


True to Yourself

by TheWildChild



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-11 12:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 72,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15315801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWildChild/pseuds/TheWildChild
Summary: When the androids became their equals, Gavin had to start dealing with his past and find some peace. Maybe it would have been easier without Connor around, or maybe the plastic cop would be the answer Gavin was looking for.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been watching too many vine compilations and everything about this game. I couldn't help but fall too deep in this shit and now here I am, with a new ship giving me way too many feels. I couldn't not write about it. (besides, I love writing this, I can swear all the time)
> 
> So anyway, a few things before we begin.  
> shitty summary, i know, i know  
> This is only a prologue but you can see that it foreshadows a lot of stuff that happened between the end of the revolution and what happens. That's when the story will take place, leading to that very moment.  
> I need to clear some things up about Gavin here. I have this headcannon (thanks to a tumblr user) that Kamski is Gavin's brother (given that they were played by the same actors). There will be more details about it in the story, don't worry, but you should know about that so you won't be surprised and you'll get it right away when this will appear in the story (probs next chapter anyway).  
> I'll probably add more tags and there will be more characters later on.
> 
> Ok I think that's about it. Hope you'll enjoy this ! (oh and also english is not my native tongue so yeah)

“So what’s it gonna be?” Gavin asked. Connor’s eyes were locked in Gavin’s before he slowly looked down, seeing the man swallow his spit. He looked up again, not saying anything, still trying to process what had just happened.

Gavin could see the LED flicking, the distinctive yellow color showing that Connor was getting new information and was processing it.

“That you can’t feel, is that it?” He asked, stepping back. Fucking androids. Connor slightly moved, only realizing now that his back had been against Hank’s car all this time. He still couldn’t give him an answer, still taken aback by those odd and new feelings. He knew what a kiss usually meant. Well, it could mean nothing, actually. But he knew that was different, because it was Gavin. Gavin wouldn’t go around kissing everyone, or anyone for that matter. And especially not him, the plastic prick. And he still hadn’t said anything. Gavin sighed and moved even further, walking backward, slowly. “You know what? It’s fine, Connor. You can go fuck yourself.”

Connor barely opened his mouth that Gavin was already walking away, faster. Connor didn’t even know what to say anyway. Would talking make the nice feeling of Gavin’s lips against his go away? It seemed like everything had lasted for an hour, when everything had happened in the span of two or three minutes.

They had been talking, Gavin had kissed him, and next thing Connor knew, he was watching him leaving the parking of the precinct in his car, flustered and mad.

Gavin was mad, yes, but mostly at himself. What a fucking fool. Just an utterly fucking idiot. He hit his steering wheel as he stopped at a red light. Was it all Connor’s plan from the beginning? Or maybe it had been his brother’s all along. He laughed bitterly as he insulted himself once again. He was feeling like punching a wall.

And yet, he just hadn’t let Connor any time to react, because he had been too nervous. He couldn’t face rejection again and he had been so afraid of Connor’s reaction… It had been a big decision for him to even show any of his affection for the android, it had been something that had tortured him for a while now. He should have known it was a bad choice.

 

“Connor, d’you plan on standing there ‘til tomorrow?” Hank asked. Connor blinked, coming back to reality. He turned around, seeing Hank staring at him from the other side of the car. He hadn’t even heard him coming.

“No…” He simply said, looking away for a moment before opening the door, sitting on the passenger seat. Hank got in the car as well, automatically putting his hand on his side, as it was still hurting from the gunshot. He closed the door behind him before looking at Connor.

“Did something happen?” He asked, starting the car. Connor, again, didn’t answer right away, and let his silence being covered by the music. He looked at the man next to him, the man who had taken him in and made him slowly grow as a person.

The revolution had taken place a few months before and now, in 2039, androids had equal rights, peace was back, somehow. There were still hate crimes, obviously, as there always had been. But things were so different, humans and androids mostly living as equals. Connor had found himself having nowhere to go. His mission was definitely over, and he was a deviant. He was lucky to still be alive. He had joined Hank and hadn’t even needed to ask. Everything just kind of happened. Connor had found himself on Hank’s couch, staring at the ceiling at night, adjusting to this new life. The man had changed a lot, he was nicer. They had become close during the mission, but even more so now that everything was over, that Connor was closer to being a being with a soul than a machine.

He had been able to join the precinct, to be accepted as a part of it and he was Hank’s partner. He was very professional. Never late despite Hank’s behavior, always being efficient, handing his paperwork in time, doing everything right. He had learned a lot about emotions, about the way he was feeling, about who he was. He had slowly started to develop his own real personality. He had one before, but it was less nuanced, not really his.

He was a form of intelligence. The androids were more intelligent than humans, because they had been created to be this way. And yet, he was somehow dumbfounded by how little he knew about these beings and their habits. But he had adapted really quickly. He had found himself laughing and smiling, sometimes feeling sad, when he’d see Hank drink too much again. He didn’t miss not feeling anything, having only one mission to accomplish before being deactivated. He liked his new life, his job, being around Hank and Sumo. It was enough, and it was making him happy. Even Gavin’s insults weren’t bothering him, because he liked… being. It came with its quirks, but it was fine.

“Yes, something happened,” he told Hank after turning down the music. Hank glanced at Connor for a second before focusing on the road again. “Detective Reed kissed me.”

Connor hadn’t been able to tell if Hank was chocking or laughing at first, his words making it clear when he was able to regain some sort of composure. “At least, your jokes are getting funnier.”

Connor frowned. It wasn’t a joke. Hank wasn’t laughing this way when he was actually attempting to make one. “I couldn’t be more serious, Hank.”

Hank’s laugh slowly faded away and he took his time to think about it, now somewhat worried. Connor was trying to trick him, sometimes, now that he was getting a grasp on humor and all that shit. And knowing how much Gavin disliked him, he must have thought that this would be pretty funny, but not really believable, even if Hank had seen Gavin’s car leaving the parking. But maybe that was it. Maybe Connor had taken every detail into account, thinking that this time, he would fall for it. And now, Hank couldn’t help but doubt his words.

“We’re talking about Gavin. At least make it believable, Connor.” What did Hank want? What would make it believable?

“His lips are softer than you would imagine.” Connor didn’t really pay attention to the man’s expression, now, as he was focused on this memory. It wasn’t difficult, it was a good memory. “He smells of sweat and coffee and… of coconut.” That last one came from his hair.

“Stop fucking around, Connor,” Hank said, now wanting him to stop. The conversation was taking a weird turn. The android finally looked at him again as Hank parked his car on the side of the road.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, concerned by Hank’s expression.

“You tell me!” Hank said, louder. “What the hell, Connor? You can’t just tell that to people!” Connor frowned again.

“I am giving you details, so that it will be believable,” he said calmly.

“So it is a fucking joke?”

“No!” This time, Connor sounded impatient.

“But how could that happen? Yes, you had to spend more time together lately, but that dipshit hates you!” Connor stared at Hank for a second before slowly turning his head, looking at the empty street through the windshield. He really was serious. Hank still couldn’t believe it, but he tried to calm down, realizing something. “What did you do, then?”


	2. About Last December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh i feel like the end is so fucking cheesy (I wasn't planning on writing it at first) but you know what, whatevs. These boys deserve to be fucking happy. Plus it shows a big contrast between Connor and Gavin's situation at the moment. 
> 
> Anyway so yeah, back in 2038, before what happened in the prologue ! Some things will soon make way more sense ! I'll update as soon as I can !  
> Thank you for all your kudos and the comments guys, I appreciate !  
> If you'd like any news or you have questions or anything, you can also follow my DBH sideblog on Tumblr (@plastic--prick). I created it yesterday because my main blog is not about the game but I was posting too much about it on it.

Gavin had been staring at Connor for a while now, sitting with both feet up on his desk, a grim expression on his face. He had almost dismissed Chris when the officer had brought him a file he was supposed to be working on, taking it and putting it neglectfully on his desk, still looking at the two other cops. Connor and Hank were talking about the case they had been working on that day, sitting at their desks. He could see that Connor was feeling more at ease now, removing his jacket to put it on the back of his seat, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt on his forearms. His desk was still very sober. Connor was very organized and had only added a picture near his terminal for now. Once, while Hank and Connor were away, Gavin had approached and looked at it, intrigued. He had rolled his eyes, seeing Connor with a big dog, his smile revealing his teeth. Part of a Christmas tree was behind them. Gavin knew Connor was staying at Hank’s, and they seem to be celebrating Christmas, that year. Hank hadn’t done so in a long while.

Connor had been an official member of the precinct for a few weeks now and seeing him every day was still making Gavin sick and making him mutter insults whenever they would cross path. The first day he had heard Connor’s voice when he arrived at work, he thought he was going to hit his head against a wall until the noise would stop. He avoided the android, still bitter because of their fight in the evidence room.

Connor was mainly ignoring him anyway, but he was greeting him now and then. Gavin knew it was just to piss him off. Androids were only there to make his life a living hell, then take his job and make it even worse.

“What do you want, Gavin? Don’t you have work to do?” Hank asked after a while, having spotted his colleague’s behavior earlier. Gavin only glanced at him before focusing on Connor again, who turned his head and met his eyes. Gavin took his time, examining his features. So life-like. Yet, that innocent face was just tricking people, and Gavin wouldn’t fall for it.

“You’re lucky you still got your job, Hank,” he only said through gritted teeth. Hank gave Connor an amused glance before getting more comfortable on his seat, crossing his arms as Gavin was getting up.

Gavin had heard about Hank beating the shit out of Perkins. Even if he had been knocked out cold by the plastic prick, he had been able to rejoice, that day. Even Gavin thought that Perkins was a dick and deserved the beating, and if Hank was fired for that, it would be a good day all in all.

But no, instead, these idiots won their revolution, Hank was still there, and that deviant asshole was working right next to him.

“Maybe I’m not the one you should look after.”

Connor observed Gavin as he walked away to the break room with his empty cup of coffee, while Hank was obviously already ready to work again.

“Has Detective Reed always been like this?” Connor asked. Hank looked up from his file and glanced at the break room.

“An asshole, you mean?”

“If that’s how you put it, then yes.”

Hank scoffed and shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “Probably. He’s driven by his ambition, not by the greater good.”

Connor could see that Hank wasn’t really eager to talk more about Gavin, and he slightly nodded, understanding and getting back to work. Gavin was, indeed, ambitious. Connor had learned about him and how he had made his way to his position. He seemed very nonchalant and wasn’t well liked by the rest of their colleagues for obvious reasons, but he was always getting his job done and was actually excelling in what he was doing. Connor had noted that he was only very impatient when it came to androids.  Otherwise, he was just unpleasant.

He had also noted that Gavin didn’t have any partner to work cases with. He would only have an officer with him at some crime scenes, but that was about it. Chris Miller was often one of them.

Connor glanced at Chris’ desk when this thought came to him. Chris was really nice, even with Gavin. Connor couldn’t tell if it was because he was afraid of the backlash, or if he was just that kind of person. He could remember Chris being very nice to him after his integration to the precinct. Showing him pictures of his newborn son, and being friendly. He remembered a talk they had had about Gavin, a few days prior to this one.

 

As usual when Connor was around, Gavin was in a bad mood, and Chris had waited for him to walk away to talk to Connor about that.

“You’re having a good day, Connor?” Chris had asked, glancing at Gavin who was walking away. Connor nodded, offering a small smile to Chris.

“So far so good, Officer Miller,” Connor simply said, still staring at Gavin who was now leaving the room.

“I told you to call me Chris,” the officer replied before laughing quietly. It wasn’t the first time he was telling Connor to do so. “Don’t worry about him,” he added, Connor now looking at him. “He probably just feels threatened.”

“Mh, yes, he told me something about that,” Connor mumbled, remembering that Gavin was afraid to lose his job because of the androids. “It’s fine though, I don’t care,” Connor said. It wasn’t the entire truth, it could bother him, but he could get over it.

“Besides, you and Hank are doing a great job, aren’t you? I heard the Captain talking about it, he sure loves having you on the team. It helps the precinct a lot.”

“We just closed another case, so I suppose we do. I bet Detective Reed is not going to be happy about that either.” The remark made Chris snort and shake his head.

“It’s crazy. Whenever he needs to talk to witnesses or announce bad news to families, or anything like that, he’s really good. He’s super sympathetic with them, a real nice guy. The minute he starts working again you want to chop his head off,” Chris said, laughing again. Connor didn’t share the laugh, only slightly smiled. So, there could be some good in Gavin, right? If he could show empathy and be nice to people in pain… Or was it just an act? Connor was better at figuring out what had happened at crime scenes than figuring out Gavin. “But he’s real good at what he does. And I’m sure he’ll get over it eventually. I mean, you already tamed Hank, and I still don’t know how you did that, so why not Gavin?”

 

Still at his desk, Connor had been lost in his thoughts for a while now. Almost everyone had left already, spending Christmas Eve with their families. Connor had still some paperwork to do before getting home. He felt Chris’s hand on his shoulder as the officer was leaving to get back home.

“Merry Christmas, guys,” the officer said, nodding to Hank and Connor and walking towards the exit. Hank mumbled something and Connor, happy to be a part of the celebration, smiled and spoke heartily.

“Merry Christmas, Officer Miller!”

“Chris!” The officer had corrected Connor as he waved, not looking back and leaving the room. Connor’s attention was then caught by Hank, who was standing up.

“I need to go get something, Connor,” the Lieutenant said, putting his jacket on. Connor was in the process of standing up when Hank stopped him. “No, no, finish your work, I’ll come back and get you to go home. It won’t take long,” he explained as he was already walking away. Connor wasn’t moving at first, still in the middle of standing up and his eyes went on Hank’s desk for an instant. He didn’t finish his paperwork. Well. Connor sat down again.

 

“Merry Christmas to you two.”

“Merry Christmas, sir,” Connor said, leaving the Captain’s office after having handed his paperwork for the latest case they had closed. Hank should be there any minute, now. Connor glanced at the entrance of the room, only seeing some shapes at the end of the hallway. He got down the stairs, hearing the two officers talking in the break room. The precinct was almost completely empty and he wondered what Hank could be doing. He stopped walking, focusing on the people in the hallway. He saw Gavin shaking hands with a man, his free hand on his shoulder. A woman was next to him, arms crossed, a handkerchief in one of her hand, that she had used to wipe her tears.

As they were still exchanging a few words, Connor felt bad for the couple. Being in a precinct at this hour, crying, on Christmas Eve… He looked down for a moment before looking up again, hearing the man thanking Gavin, who was talking too quietly for Connor to hear. He decided to go back at his desk to wait for Hank and, soon enough, Gavin came back in the room. He had a file in his hands and was reading it, the sleeves of his hoodie rolled up on his forearms. Connor stared as he walked to his desk and sat down, still focused on his file. After a minute or so, he raised his head, staring in front of him for a moment before finally turning his head to look at Connor, impatient.

“What?” A bit aggressive, Connor thought. He slightly shook his head and looked elsewhere. Gavin sighed and started to read again. Connor couldn’t help but make his chair move slowly from left to right as he was thinking, his hand joined on his lap. After a moment, he decided to talk.

“What happened to the people you were talking to?” He asked, looking at his colleague again. Gavin gave him a glance and gritted his teeth for a while, restraining yet another sigh.

“Their daughter disappeared.” He used the end of his pen to tap the file he was reading.

“Oh…” was all Connor could say as Gavin looked at him from the corner of his eyes again. “When?” Gavin closed his eyes for a second. Why would he discuss his case with that android?

“Earlier today,” he simply said. Connor slightly frowned.

“Are they sure she disappeared, then?” He asked, tilting his head on the side. Connor was right, usually, and especially with adults, you wouldn’t suspect a kidnapping for someone before 24 hours. It could happen for someone to just not answer their phone for the day, or just be busy. The parents of the 24-year-old had come earlier to ask for help. Their daughter was supposed to arrive at their house in the afternoon, but she apparently never made it. No phone call to let them know about being late or anything. They had tried to stop worrying but couldn’t help it, and it was understandable. Besides…

“I know them,” Gavin mumbled. “And I know she calls at least once a day to talk to them and today she hasn’t and... And that’s really none of your business anyway,” he kept on going, writing something on a sheet of paper before raising his head to use his terminal.

“You know them,” Connor stated after listening to Gavin, still staring at him. Gavin pursed his lips.

“Not enough that I can’t be on the case, if that’s what’s worrying you,” he said directly and sarcastically before Connor could make any remark about protocol or him being too close to the case. They had been neighbors for a while, when Gavin was still a teenager. The girl was born some time before, Gavin was fifteen at the time. He remembered them, had looked after the girl once, maybe twice, when her parents had to leave for an improvised date and that the baby-sitter wasn’t available. He even got money for it. But it was a long time ago, he hadn’t really talked to them since he had left his childhood house for college. He had crossed path with them a few times, though.

“I was just saying this, in case something actually did happen to the girl,” Connor said calmly, having now Gavin’s attention, as he turned to look at Connor. But he didn’t say anything, he listened to Connor, knowing what he was about to say. “It isn’t going to be difficult only for her parents.”

“Yeah I get that you understand empathy and all that shit now, or whatever, if you like to believe you do, but it doesn’t have to be difficult,” Gavin said, crossing his arms, resting against the back of his seat. Connor frowned again, visibly trying to understand what he meant. “I’ll found the girl and it’s gonna be alright. She’ll just miss Christmas. Then she’s gonna get home,” Gavin said. Something in his words maybe, or his tone, made Connor believe that Gavin wasn’t fully confident, but was mainly hoping for it to happen. Still, despite the sadness of the conversation, and his desperation to believe he would find the girl and that no harm would be done to her, Connor thought about Christmas again.

“I doubt her parents will celebrate Christmas, she’s not the only one who is going to miss it,” he said, looking at the floor as he remembered the expressions on their faces.

“I’m not sure they’ll think about that tonight, really.”

“You’re missing Christmas too, I believe?” Connor then asked, looking at Gavin again.

“Like everyone still in this precinct,” he just said before gritting his teeth, facing his desk again. Connor distinctively remembered hearing Captain Fowler offer him to take the night off as Gavin, and he could quote him, “has been sitting on his ass at this desk for the last five Christmas Eves”.

“Don’t you want to celebrate it?” Connor wasn’t familiar with this kind of celebrations, as it was his first one. He had seen some people putting decorations in the precinct and he had asked Hank about it. Of course, he could easily find all the information he wanted about the holiday and what it was for, and how it had been created. But he had now this habit of first asking Hank for something he wanted to know. Hank always sighed, when he had to give long explanations, but he was also clearly amused to do it, and to teach this basic stuff to Connor.

When talking about Christmas, though, he didn’t seem that amused, and he had told Connor that he hadn’t celebrated it in years. Connor was smart and obviously, connected the dots with Cole’s death. He was okay with not celebrating it, if Hank didn’t want to. But one day, after leaving the precinct, Connor quickly saw that he had made a wrong turn with the car and had stated that this wasn’t the way to go back home. Hank had told him that they were going to pick a tree. Since then, Connor was very impatient. Hank still had old ornaments and they had put them on the tree. The picture of Connor and Sumo had been taken that day. Hank didn’t want to be on it, and took it instead.

“No,” Gavin said vehemently. Shit, he shouldn’t have answered Connor about his case in the first place. Now he wanted to make small talk.

“Why not?” Connor couldn’t help but ask, still moving his office chair slightly from left to right with his feet.

“’Cause it’s a shitty holiday,” Gavin mumbled, trying to focus on his work again. He did, however, glare at Connor right after having answered. He could see Connor frowning a little, and a vague pout on his face.

“I don’t think it is,” he said calmly, despite the way Gavin was looking at him. “It’s a chance to celebrate with the people you love, exchange gifts with them, spend time with your family.” At least, that’s how Hank had explained it to him, with a few more details about religion.

“Yeah, exactly. What’s the fucking point?”

Connor knew he wasn’t that good at small talk, even though he thought he was getting better, but apparently, he was wrong. Gavin was gradually getting more aggressive. Touchy subject, or so it seemed.

“I sense that you don’t like spending time with your family,” Connor said, still calmly.

“None of your goddam business.”

“I wasn’t asking, just making an observation.”

“Yeah well, get off my dick, Connor,” Gavin said, slapping his file close and looking in front of him and not at his colleague. Connor noted that he was breathing more heavily. He didn’t know if it was because of his anger, or just because of the subject of his family. The two were probably connected. Or… It was just him, Connor. The reason Gavin was always in a bad mood.

Gavin hoped he knew where he could shove his observations. He hated those fucking holidays.

He glanced at the entrance when he heard someone coming, and he saw Hank. Finally. He almost let out a huge sigh of relief but didn’t. He only looked at Connor again and raised one of his arm, slightly moving his hand to tell Connor to go away.

“You taxi’s there, go and celebrate far away from me, now.”

Hank frowned from afar and started to approach. Connor stood up, directly taking his jacket from his seat and giving a look at Gavin.

“Merry Christmas, Detective Reed.”

“Piss off.”

Connor was already walking towards Hank and before the Lieutenant could say anything, Connor put a hand on his shoulder to make him leave with him.

“It’s fine, let’s go,” he said quietly.

 

“What happened up there?” Hank asked when they got out of the elevator. He wanted to know. Now that Connor was way more sensitive than before, he knew he probably could be affected by Gavin’s behavior, even if he was never showing anything about it.

“Nothing. He doesn’t like Christmas, that’s all. What were you doing anyway?” Connor said, eager to change the subject.

“Nothing important. But you’d think there would be less people on the street on Christmas Eve but I guess I miscalculated that, sorry you had to wait.”

 

Connor was quite relieved to be back home. He liked that place. It had changed a bit since the first time he had been in it. There were less bottles and dirty dishes, and more light. During the night, on the couch, Connor would let the fairy lights on and would look at them. He really, really liked them. The tree wasn’t that far away from the fireplace, where the photograph of Hank’s son was back into place. Connor could see the lights’ reflection on it as they were flickering. Sumo would either sleep in Hank’s bedroom, or on the couch. He actually wasn’t really allowed to go on it, but Connor would let him when he’d hear Hank snoring in the other room. Sumo liked sleeping there, because Connor would pet him all night long. Connor wasn’t sleeping. He could fake it, kind of a standby mode, but he didn’t like it all that much. He was fine with only being a deviant, not a human. It really wasn’t a problem. And one thing he liked about not being human, is the way he viewed time. He didn’t mind sitting on the couch all night long, thinking about cases, about his life, his hand coming and going in Sumo’s fur. It didn’t feel like wasting his time. Humans, however, didn’t let themselves the time to think too much. Connor felt he had all the time in the world, at night.

And he liked that evening. Maybe it wasn’t a traditional Christmas, with a family eating together at the table, but it was their Christmas. And even if they weren’t saying it out loud, they were family. They had spent the evening on the couch, Hank eating, both of them talking and laughing together, some jazz music in the background from Hank’s vinyl’s collection.

Hank seemed relaxed, shared stories from back in the days, talked more than usual. And even got out a little box for Connor.

Connor couldn’t help but smile a little a he saw the MP3 that was in it.

“You said couldn’t listen to music but that-“

“I’d like to. I did say that,” he said, smiling at Hank.

“It’s not much but… That’s what I went to get. I don’t know what you’d listen to, I asked someone to take care of everything for me, anyway,” Hank said as he shrugged.

“Don’t say it isn’t much,” Connor said. Hank looked at him. Connor was still smiling. Well, it was the very first gift he was receiving. His first Christmas, he had a home. He seemed happy, and it warmed Hank’s heart. Connor was like a son to him, at that point, and it was no secret for anyone, even if no one would say anything. And looking at this tall and grown ass man, who had simply removed his tie and rolled up his sleeves, crossed-legged on his couch gave him a weird feeling of happiness too. He thought he had forgotten the feeling, yet he could identify him as soon as it hit him. In the span of a few months, it was like seeing Connor growing up, by developing emotions and bonding with him. And sometimes, he still looked like a poodle failing at whatever he was attempting to do but definitely trying his best. He couldn’t see him as a machine anymore. He wasn’t ever calling him a “it” anymore. It was Connor, his partner and his boy.

And that boy had a surprise too, as he gave Sumo a new collar, red, with a round tag. Sumo’s info was written on one side, and the other side had simply a big #1 on it. Hank couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Ridiculous. He smiled and shook his head as Connor put it around Sumo’s neck. Then, he handed something to Hank. A book, it seemed.

“I know you prefer those to other things,” Connor mumbled. It was true, Hank preferred real book, he wasn’t too good with technology. “But, um, open it,” Connor said, trying to stop himself from smiling. But as Hank looked up at him, he could see that the left side of Connor’s lips was curled up. He was staring at the book and seemed eager to see Hank’s reaction. He then opened the book, seeing two tickets for a basketball match with the Detroit Gears. Connor had been excited, but now, he seemed uneasy. “I didn’t know if you’d like that but, I know you’re a fan of the team, so I thought, you know.”

“You idiot,” Hank said, shaking his head as he took the tickets, looking at them. “You shouldn’t have used your first paycheck to buy me gifts,” he said before giving Connor a small smile, that Connor gave him back.

 

In the precinct, Officer Chen walked towards Gavin’s desk, surprised.

“Reed? Didn’t the Captain gave you the night off for Christmas?” Gavin didn’t look up from his paperwork.

“No,” he simply said. He sounded a bit cold and the officer didn’t want to suffer from his mood. She wished him a good night, quietly, as she walked off.

Gavin was the last detective in the room and, after a few minutes he tried to use to focus again, he sighed, throwing his pen on the desk and letting himself fall back in his chair. He didn’t move but his eyes observed the dark precinct, mainly lighted by the lights coming from outside.


	3. Gasoline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it took me forever to update ! Sorry about that !  
> I had my ideas but very little time but I also really wanted to also publish chapter four at the same time as this one so it took me longer.   
> Why? Simply because this one revolve more about the case than around Gavin and Connor, and I really wanted to write what happens in the fourth at first, I just ended up adding a shit load of stuff. And what I really wanted to do was finally be at the point I am at the end of chapter four, but I needed everything to happen in between. ANYWAY. I feel like I don't make a lot of sense right now. I hope the chapters will actually make more sense. Anyway. Yeah. Thanks for the kudos and the comments, again, it's a real motivation !
> 
> Warning ! I'm sorry for the mistakes if there are too many of them, I will read the chapters again but I need to go and I wanted to post them before going and I will correct them in due time !

A week had passed since Christmas, when Hank and Connor got out of the elevator to go to their desks and review files they could choose to investigate. While Hank was, as usual, going to get his morning coffee from the break room, Connor walked towards his desk. Adjusting his jacket, he glanced at the people already there, and spotted Gavin at his desk. The man looked a bit tired and was staring into space. He hesitated to approach. He knew about the girl, from his last real talk with Gavin, but he also knew that he hadn’t found her. And he knew the statistics.

Gavin had told him she would only miss Christmas, but that he would find her eventually. Connor didn’t know him that well, obviously, even if they were seeing each other almost every day. Besides getting insults, he wasn’t getting any information that could help him get along with Gavin. It’s not that he absolutely wanted that, but the ambiance at the office would be better if Gavin stopped insulting him and getting angry whenever he was around. He would maybe go a bit easier on Hank too.

About the case, Connor didn’t know much but what he had been able to gather. Someone had called to mention a car, abandoned on the side of the road, one of the doors was open. The woman calling had given the plate number and soon enough, Gavin had been contacted. Connor had only heard him from afar, seen him writing something, the place he had to go to, probably, before getting up, grabbing his jacket and leaving the precinct. Gavin had spent his day there, controlling the operations, the search in the area the car had been found at. But nothing came up. There was no trace in the car, no clue about where the girl would be or who could have attacked her. They had found a few drops of blood on the passenger seat, turned out it was hers. The snow had probably erased some things they could have seen. Gavin still didn’t have a lead.

Connor couldn’t help but approach him, thinking that if he was too aggressive, he would leave him alone. But Gavin didn’t even look up, as he seemed completely lost in his own thoughts.

“Detective Reed.” He waited a moment before getting closer to the desk, joining his hand behind his back. “Detective Reed,” he called again. Gavin blinked, pulled out of his reverie, and he looked at Connor. It took him an instant to register what was going on but as soon as he did, he frowned.

“What do you want, tin can?” He asked, regaining his composure and still glaring at Connor.

“To know how your case is going,” Connor said calmly. Gavin slightly narrowed his eyes, surprised by this direct approach. It wasn’t his fucking business. “I believe the girl is still missing and-“

“Ava,” he said coldly as he got up. Connor looked down at his desk when he saw his hand moving. Gavin put his hand on his file and pushed it away from Connor, so that he wouldn’t try to get it. “Her name’s Ava.” Connor looked up again, meeting Gavin’s defiant look.

“I believe,” he said, more tactful, “that Ava is still missing. I thought that maybe, I could share some insights. By seeing the car maybe, or-“ Gavin didn’t let him finish, taking a step forward, getting closer to Connor.

“What do you think you’ll do that I didn’t?” Wrong approach, Connor realized. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so direct.

“I didn’t mean to insult the way you do your job,” he said, slightly tilting his head on the side as he examined Gavin’s features. His face was screaming for Connor to leave, but he insisted. “I just wanted to help. I am able to see things humans can’t,” he explained, making Gavin frowned even more.

“The fuck you mean?” He asked, not knowing if Connor was trying to be derogative or if really couldn’t help but speak this way.

“Like Thirium, for example,” he explained. “It’s what you call blue bl-“

“I know what it is,” Gavin interrupted him coldly. Oh yes, he knew what it was. He had heard enough about it, maybe more than most people. Connor’s LED flickered, becoming yellow for a moment.

“Well, it can’t be seen by the human eye after a few hours, as I suppose you know,” he said, adding the last phrase after a short pause and a glance from Gavin, “but it can still be seen by mine. I thought, maybe… If there is something like that that I might see, I thought that it was worth a try.”

Gavin was clearly considering the proposition. He was staying silent, staring at Connor. The android could see him gritting his teeth, the muscles of his jaw slowly moving. Would it be that terrible to accept his help? Did he really have a choice at that point, given that he didn’t have other leads? If he was accepting, it truly meant that he was desperate. He opened his mouth, ready to make his choice.

“Connor,” a grumpy voice said. Both Gavin and Connor looked at Hank, who was coming back from the break room. He stopped near the two cops. “What’s going on this time?”

“Nothing, Lieutenant,” Connor said, not moving. He was still in front of Gavin, hands behind his back, and he looked at the man again. Gavin was now staring at Hank.

“Don’t you have work to do, tin can?” He asked, glancing at Connor as he turned around to sit back at his desk. There was less aggressiveness in his voice, showing that he was weary, at that point.

“I was offering my help to Detective Reed,” Connor explained. Gavin rolled his eyes, refusing to look at either of them.

“For what?” Hank asked, surprised as he looked back and forth at Connor and Gavin. “Why would you do that?”

“A young woman disappeared, about a week ago and-“

“It’s my case, Connor, so shut the fuck up,” Gavin mumbled.

“I thought that maybe, I could inspect her car, maybe see something they could have missed,” Connor continued without paying any attention to Gavin. Hank considered the problem for a few seconds and glanced at Gavin again.

“You know, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad to let Connor do that,” Hank said. “He’s been very helpful with this kind of things.”

With a satisfied and hopeful little smile, Connor looked at Gavin again.

“Spare me the trouble of working with him, Hank, I didn’t ask for you to jump in either.”

“Maybe we should talk about it to Captain Fowler, maybe he wouldn’t be against the idea-“

Gavin suddenly stood up, grabbing Connor by the collar to pull him closer.

“You’re not going to ask anything about this to Fowler, asshole, you hear me?” He said through gritted teeth. After feeling Hank’s hand on his shoulder, he let go of Connor’s shirt, pushing him back slightly. He looked around, seeing three other cops looking in their direction. It wasn’t surprising to see that Gavin was arguing with Connor, but still. Connor simply adjusted his tie properly, a frown of impatience showing on his forehead. “You’ll look at the car, alright. But you don’t say a word to him.”

“Why not?” Connor asked. There would be a report filed about the case anyway, he would know about him helping out if he were to find something.

“So he doesn’t assign you to work the rest of the case with me, dipshit.”

Gavin moved, shoving Connor’s shoulder as he did so, and walked towards the exit. Connor and Hank exchanged a glance before following him.

 

The car hadn’t really been touched. They had examined it, got prints that were only Ava’s, took a sample of the traces of blood, tried to find a clue, anything. Since then, nothing had been done to it.

“The door on the passenger side was left open, it snowed inside, it probably removed stuff when it melted, like the blood on the seat. We only got a few traces left,” Gavin said as they entered the huge garage. Connor saw the vehicle and directly approached the door that had been left open. His eyes went on the tires, the car door, the seats, the floor. Everywhere. He crouched in front of it, getting closer to the blood to look at it. He could see that yes, the snow had cleaned the seat, but not completely. Again, his LED turned yellow.

“There was more blood on the seat,” he said as he stood up, slowly walking around the car. Gavin glanced at Hank, who didn’t seem surprised to see Connor working this way. “Not much, or the snow wouldn’t have been sufficient to remove it, unless someone had actually tried to clean it up. Besides, I don’t think the door was left open to try and have the seats soaked with water.” 

“No, I think it’s just because they abandoned the car in a hurry.”

Connor narrowed his eyes a little. He couldn’t reconstruct the scene easily, as he wasn’t where they had found the car and that even if they were, there wouldn’t be any traces left on the ground. He didn’t know how she had disappeared, if she had been attacked in the car, if there was one or more attackers… He turned his head to look at a metallic table near the car, on which were the keys, and a plastic bag with something white and pink in it. “Did you have any suspect? Or profile, or anything about an aggressor?” He asked.

“No,” Gavin said, grim.

Connor stopped in front of the table. He picked up the plastic bag, that had a mitten in it, to examine it. There were traces of gas on it. He was about to say it when Gavin talked again.

“There’s only one of them, she… must still have the other one, or, I don’t know,” Gavin said, shaking his head as he put his hands in his pockets. “There’s gasoline inside and outside of it. So I went to the nearest gas stations with Chen with a picture of Ava, asking if they’ve seen her, and if so, if someone was following her, maybe. Nobody recognized her.”

“How many were there?”

“Two between her home and where we found the car.”

“Did you ask for the recordings from the security cameras?” Hank asked. Gavin, apparently feeling a bit insulted, glared at Hank.

“Of course I asked for the fucking recordings, who do you take me for?” He shook his head again and stopped looking at Hank. He hoped this would be over soon. “Anyway. At the first station, not far from her place, the guy showed me. The other one didn’t have any recordings, he doesn’t keep them, he uses the same two tapes over and over again, he changes them every twenty-four hours. He showed it to me. And I can’t complain, he doesn’t have to keep them if he doesn’t need to.”

“Does he work alone?” Connor asked, putting the plastic bag back on the table and turning to look at Gavin.

“Yeah, I did a background check on him. He doesn’t have a record, he’s married and has been working at that station for more than twenty-years, said he’s always been working by himself. We found the car too late, so he already erased the recordings.”

“We should go back to that station again.”

“Why?” Gavin asked.

“Because either she really didn’t stop at one of the stations, either she never made out of the second one.”

 There was a moment of silence that Gavin used to think for a moment.

“Her tank is filled.”

Connor felt that Gavin wasn’t happy with all this. Having found these little details was helping the case, but neither of them were stupid. There was very little chances to find the girl alive.

“There’s no trace of gasoline on the steering wheel,” Connor stated. “If she left traces of gas inside the mitten, it means she had some on her fingers. I would get driving with gloves, not with mittens. At least, she was never on the driver seat after stopping at the station. I think it’s worth a try anyway, I might find something there.” Connor adjusted his jacket and started walking towards the door. “Should we take your car, Detective?”

 

“Do you think it was an android?” Connor asked. The three cops were in the car, Gavin driving, Hank on the passenger seat. If it were up to Gavin, Hank would be on the backseat with Connor. The android was in the middle of the seats, seatbelt on, talking calmly, hands joined on his lap. Gavin was glancing at him in his rear-view mirror from time to time. He saw that Connor was looking at the window.

“I thought about it,” Gavin said, focusing on the road again. “There’s absolutely no prints besides hers, no hair, no fucking nothing,” he said. Hank glanced at him, seeing that he seemed to be nervous. And at the same time, he couldn’t tell if it wasn’t just because of their presence in his car.

“Do you believe it is one that did that?” Connor asked, still looking at the snow falling and crashing against the window.

“I don’t fucking know, Connor!” Gavin said more loudly, one of his hands hitting the steering wheel, showing his impatience. “I’ve got no one to arrest or even suspect, okay? Want to rub it in a bit more? It could be one, it could be fucking anyone!”

“For fuck’s sake Connor, just tell him if it’s an android or not, my head’s going to blow up if I have to listen to him shout all day long,” Hank said, himself getting impatient. Connor stayed calm and didn’t move, thinking about it.

 “I actually don’t know. I mean, it might be,” he said, following the trail of a melted snowflake on the window. “Yet, it seems unlikely. Android related crimes, when it isn’t them being attacked or killed, are usually caused by a big emotional reaction, because it’s hard to process these new feelings they discover,” he said. Gavin glanced at him again in the mirror. Sometimes, he was speaking like he wasn’t a deviant, or as if he had control over those new emotions, or whatever he thought he had. Gavin rolled his eyes, resting his elbow near his window, his fingers against his left temple.  “Them being threatened or attacked is an example. It causes too much stress for them to handle and respond to it properly.” After all, androids, despite most of them being adults, were only discovering feelings, emotions, just like infants would. “Here, it seemed to be planned, somehow. And psychotic behavior has yet to be observed in androids. They usually don’t plan their crimes, they just happen, and often to defend themselves.”

Gavin wasn’t really happy with this, but believed what Connor had to say. And androids being there didn’t mean humans wouldn’t commit this type of crimes anymore, on the contrary. Hank and Connor were usually dealing with androids related crimes, they knew about them, and Gavin wanted to stay as far as possible from that stuff.

“Why are you asking me this?” Gavin asked. Hank glanced at the man. It was the less aggressive tone he had ever used with Connor.

“Just to know your position on this,” Connor said, finally turning his head and looking back at Gavin in the rear-view mirror.

 

Gavin parked his car at the gas station and looked out Hank’s window. He saw a young man getting out of the station, walking towards one of the car there and proposing to help a woman out and fill her tank for her. She had kids in the car that seemed very boisterous and she accepted the help. Gavin frowned.

“What is it?” Hank asked, looking at Gavin then a the young man.

“He wasn’t there when I came her the other day,” he mumbled, opening his door and getting out of the car. Connor and Hank did the same.

“I’ll stay here, check he doesn’t go anywhere,” Hank said, leaning against the car’s hood. “Connor will be able to see if there’s anything inside,” he said, glancing at the guy he was supposed to watch, who didn’t seem to have noticed them. Gavin only nodded and started walking towards the station, Connor on his heels.

“You don’t say anything,” Gavin said, “let me handle this.”

They entered the station and Gavin directly walked towards the checkout. Connor had started casually looking around the room, as he was able to see whatever he needed to check out directly. He stopped just behind Gavin and listened to the exchange, his eyes still slowly moving to look around.

“You’re back!” The cashier said, glancing at the door and looking at the boy working for him. “What can I do to help you this time?” Connor looked at the man and took the time to scan his face. He had no criminal record. He thought about taking a look at the other guy.

“You tell me. I thought you had no one working for you,” Gavin said, not sounding too rude, but the reproach could be heard.

“Oh, well, he’s not exactly… working for me, as such,” the cashier said, smiling at Gavin but definitely a bit nervous. Gavin slightly frowned and approached, casually leaning against the counter.

“It’s not official, is it?” He asked. Connor tilted his head when something caught his attention.

“He’s my nephew, he’s just helping out sometimes, and I give him some cash in exchange. He’s having trouble paying rent, he doesn’t have a job and he’s been really helpful,” the cashier explained. Not a big deal, obviously, for him. Gavin slightly nodded, looked over his shoulder, seeing that the boy was done. Connor turned around and walked towards the door.

“Yeah, I get it. And you don’t have to pay for a real employee,” Gavin said, still acting very casually. “He doesn’t happen to have the key or anything? Unlimited access to the station, to replace you sometimes?”

At that point, Connor had stopped at the door and was looking at the boy outside, trying to have a good look. Finally, the “employee” finally looked at the station, for the first time since they arrived. Connor used that time to know who the boy was, before turning around, knowing that he had already been arrested for domestic problems with his ex-girlfriend. He didn’t regain his place near Gavin, who was still talking to the cashier, and he instead slowly walked between the shelves, looking around, before coming back near the counter.

“Were you or not working here on Christmas day? Or did you leave your nephew here and didn’t tell me so you wouldn’t get busted?” Gavin asked calmly, slightly tilting his head. “You know that lying to me is actually an obstruction of justice, right?”

“I just wanted to spend the day with my family,” the cashier said quietly.

“I believe you know about your nephew’s criminal record, right?” Connor asked, getting a glance from Gavin as he casually walked behind the counter.

“What are you doing, Connor?” Gavin asked, straightening up.

“He was young, it was a mistake,” the cashier said, taking a step back. Connor kept walking towards him, until he stopped moving. His eyes were on the man and he considered him for a moment, Gavin’s eyes on him. Connor looked severe. Finally, he crouched, turning towards the open door behind the counter, leading to the backroom. Gavin leaned a bit to see what he was doing. Connor tilted his head, checking the corner of the wall. He then looked up at Gavin.

“There was blood. Someone cleaned it up,” he said before getting up. They both looked at the cashier, who seemed nervous but also shocked.

“I-I didn’t- I didn’t do anything! I have nothing to do with this! Maybe he hurt himself!” If Connor had been able to analyze a sample, he would have been able to say if it was Ava. But here, he couldn’t. If they could find the glove, they would have their proof. “I already cut myself opening packages, it’s probably what happened!”

Connor came back behind the counter, while Gavin was staring at the man. He was nervous. He wasn’t afraid, it was some kind of anxiety. He really wanted to shout at the guy to shut up, thinking that maybe, they could have found Ava earlier if he had been honest. He had his teeth gritted and Connor noticed, as he was glancing at him.

“How do you propose we proceed, Detective Reed?” He asked calmly. The cashier wasn’t trying to flee, and it was probably just his nephew’s doing. They heard the door open and close, and someone walking in. Connor joined his hands behind his back, his LED turning yellow.

“Connor?” Hank asked after picking up his phone. “Did you find something?”

Connor didn’t say anything.

Gavin, Connor and the cashier stayed silent. Two with anticipation, the other one because he was too nervous to say anything.

“Everything alright, uncle Sam?” The boy asked, glancing at Gavin and Connor as he walked behind the counter.

“What’s your name?” Gavin asked, not letting the uncle answer. The young man looked at him. He didn’t look mean, nor friendly. Gavin slightly moved his jacket with his hand, showing the badge on his belt.

“Mike,” the young man said, glancing at Connor. Gavin got his phone out and after a few seconds, he turned it in Mike’s direction.

“You don’t happen to remember seeing this girl on Christmas Day, by any chance, do you, Mike?” He asked, staring at the boy. Mike approached the counter and looked at the picture for a moment, before glancing at Gavin.

“Maybe, I don’t know. It was a week ago. There’s a lot of people coming by every day,” he simply said.

“Take a good look at her,” Gavin said, still staring at the boy.

“I did,” Mike said directly, a bit more coldly. Gavin’s gaze stayed on him and Connor glanced at his colleague.

“Sorry if I can’t help you, Detectives,” Mike said, glancing at Connor again, his eyes slowly going down on his jacket, then on his LED, that was still yellow. He couldn’t help but scoff before glancing at Gavin again. He then turned around and walked in the backroom. He casually started to rummage in the shelves, Gavin and Connor exchanging a glance. Gavin put his hand on his gun and Connor glanced at it before looking at the boy again.

“Did you hurt yourself while working here, at some point, Mike?” Connor asked, tilting his head to see Mike who was almost hidden because of his uncle who was standing in front of the entrance of the backroom.

“He told you he did nothing wrong, what more do you want?” Sam asked. Mike had glanced at Connor at the question and was moving further in the room.

“For him to answer the question,” Gavin said, looking at Mike dead in the eye when the boy glanced at him. Mike looked down, seeing that Gavin had his hand on his weapon just in case and, finally panicking, he turned around to run towards the door. Without a second thought, both Connor and Gavin rushed forward.

“The back door, Hank!” Connor said loudly, finally stopping the call, his LED becoming blue again as he was jumping above the counter, a hand on it. Gavin had done the same and, passing the cashier, they both entered the backroom, running. The boy had knocked over one of the shelves, that was almost blocking the passage. In the narrowed hallway the shelves were forming, Connor was first to pass the shelves, jumping in the passage that was left open on the lest, slightly getting ahead of Gavin who had to be a bit more careful -or, who would actually feel pain and injure himself if he was to fall badly-. Still, he was right behind Connor. As they passed the shelve, Mike was getting out the back door. When they got out, Hank had rejoined them, almost grabbing Mike by the shirt. They followed him as he run towards the road, barely looking before crossing it. With a quick glance to the right, Connor wasn’t afraid of the car coming his way. Hank stopped on the sidewalk, grabbing Gavin’s arm as he was ready to jump in the danger. Connor, who didn’t stop -but did hear Hank call out his name-, jumped at the right time. Androids were faster and stronger than humans, and he jumped above the hood of the car without much difficulty, the car only brushing past the end of his jacket. He sustained his momentum, getting closer to Mike as they had finally crossed the road. The boy wasn’t armed, so he didn’t see the point of using the gun that had been attributed to him. Gavin, however, his gun in his hand, finally crossed the road when it was safer.

Soon enough, Connor grabbed Mike by the back of his shirt. The young man turned around directly, hitting him instinctively across the face. Ah he stumbled, Connor didn’t let go of him, actually he grabbed his arm and started dragging Mike down with him. They struggled for a moment and Mike, being above Connor, started to punch him.

“Don’t you fucking move,” Gavin said, now holding Mike at gunpoint. He was walking, gun in hands, getting closer until his gun was against the back of Mike’s head. “Or I swear to god I’ll fucking shoot.”

“Gavin,” Connor said, on the ground. He was looking at Gavin, who seemed ready to shoot. “We need him,” he said calmly. He glanced at Mike who slightly smiled before raising his hands slowly. Gavin glanced at Connor, gritting his teeth. That fucker was right.

Connor slowly got up from the ground, looking at Gavin who was handcuffing Mike after having pulled him off of Connor. He passed his hands on his clothes a few times to remove the dust, and finally saw Hank who was coming at them, running as he was hanging up his phone.

“Connor! What the fuck did you think you were doing?” He roared.

“I just thought-“ Connor began.

“You didn’t think! You never think! I told you to stop doing things like that! You and your fucking stunts!”

Gavin was glancing at them while taking care of the guy. Connor was fucking nuts. Even if yes, Gavin had been willing to put his life on the line, it had been mostly because of the adrenaline, he didn’t look if cars were coming, he needed to catch that guy. Connor knew what he was doing. Every time. His eyes went on Connor and he looked at him from top to bottom. He gritted his teeth. He hadn’t been impressed by that jump over the car, or that jump to pass the fallen shelf in the backroom. Why would he be? He was an android, that was the only reason he could do that, it wasn’t impressive at all. And yet, Gavin knew that without Connor, he probably wouldn’t have caught that guy. Whether it’d be because he would have lost track on him while waiting to cross the road, or because he would have been rolled over by a truck.

In Connor’s mind, it was simply teamwork. If Gavin hadn’t been there during that fight, maybe the guy would have escaped. Gavin didn’t think of that, as he walked past Connor and Hank without a glance towards them, only pulling Mike with him, holding him by his shirt. As he started walking away, Connor, who was in front of Hank, slightly tilted his head to be able to see Gavin.

“I just thought about how devastated he would have been, if he’d escaped,” he said calmly, looking at Hank again. The man looked over his shoulder, then at Connor again.

“Gavin? Devastated?” He asked, finally turning around to walk towards the station again.

“The case seems to be affecting him emotionally,” Connor simply said, getting another glance from Hank.

They joined Gavin in front of the road, and they waited to cross in silence.

“Should we notify her parents that we have a suspect in custody, Detective?” Connor asked Gavin. He was still the lead Detective in this investigation and was making the decisions. Gavin took a moment to think about it and started talking while crossing the road.

“Not now. I’ll have to call Fowler, though,” he said, sounding annoyed, “so that we’ll have a warrant to search that asshole’s place.” Once near the car, he pushed Mike forward, against the car, while he was opening the backseat’s door. “Smile, tin can, you’ll have someone to share the road with,” he then said, glancing at Connor. He had a predatory smile on his face, but it wasn’t the same as the one he had when pulling his gun on Connor, in front of the evidence room. This time, he looked like he wasn’t amused by the thought of shooting a machine, but like he wanted to share his amusement and excitation over this arrest with that very same deviant. Connor slightly smiled, thinking that his now good mood was going to take over his hatred for him for maybe at least the ride.

“I don’t mind,” he simply said before walking around the car to sit in it as well.


	4. Ava

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, two chapters at the same time.   
> I'm actually really anxious about these haha, I hope you will like where it leads. 
> 
> WARNING: it's not really gory stuff but there is the description of a corps and the injuries and all that shit, blood (and Connor licking obviously), so yeah, just a heads up.

“Where’s Gavin?” Hank asked as he entered the room Connor was in. The android was staring at the suspect from behind the glass. Mike seemed kind of nervous, now that he was alone in the interrogation room. Gavin had first questioned him, but he was impatient and quite aggressive. When he got out, he asked Hank to be nicer to him. A kind of good cop bad cop kind of dynamic. Gavin hadn’t spoken a word to Connor since the arrest, and at some point, he even left the room, while the interrogation was still leading to nothing. They were trying to use their time well, until Mike’s court-appointed lawyer would show up.

“I’m not sure,” Connor said.

“Well, I still can’t get a word out of this prick. You want to try?” Hank asked, letting himself fall on a chair and crossing his arms. Connor joined his hands behind his back and shook his head.

“I don’t think Detective Reed would like for me to do that,” he said calmly. Hank glanced at him.

“Who cares? Without you, he wouldn’t even have caught that guy,” Hank sighed. “Imagine his face if you get the confession out of that bastard? After everything he’s been putting you through, it would be priceless,” Hank said, not able to restrain a laugh. Connor smiled at him, amused by his behavior.

“I think you hate Gavin more than I do,” he said, his smile still on his face. Hank frowned a bit but didn’t lose his amusement either. “He’s clearly got some personal issues, for acting in such a disrespectful and angry way. I just don’t mind him, he’ll get bored eventually, won’t he?”

Hank thought for a second. He had known Gavin for years now, and he had always been this way. He was aggressive, in a bad mood almost all the time, it seemed like he thought the world was against him, for some unknown reason. And without knowing what all this anger was about, Hank was finding the reason pretty irrelevant. They still didn’t have to put up with his shitty behavior. Connor was clearly more patient, despite him showing his annoyance sometimes.

The door of the interrogation room opened again, and Gavin entered, a folded piece of paper in his hands. Both Connor and Hank turned to watch what he was doing.

Gavin walked slowly in the room, passed the table, turned around and looked at Mike for a moment. He then tilted his head, an amused smile on his face. But not the same Connor had earlier that day, it was his usual smile, as if he knew something you didn’t, as if he knew a dirty little secret of yours and that he was about to have a lot of fun using it against you or something.

He unfolded the piece of paper, approached the table and calmly placed the sheet on the table. With the tip of his fingers, he moved it towards Mike before walking towards him and stopping behind him. He then slowly bent down, resting his hands against his thighs, his head being above Mike’s shoulder. He was looking at the paper on the table but had lost his smile as he spoke quietly.

“I’m gonna go to your place real quick, now. I’m going to search it from top to bottom and when I do, I’ll find what I need. Then, you’ll be sent away for the rest of your miserable and pointless fucking life.” He straightened up, took the warrant from the table, looked at it, holding the paper above Mike’s shoulder. Then, he held it in his other hand, while his right hand tapped Mike’s cheek twice. “Thank you for your cooperation.” 

Hank and Connor had watched without doing anything, until Connor received a big tap on the back, making him move slightly forward.

“Time to show me if you really can ignore his behavior!” Hank said. Gavin was getting out of the interrogation room and Hank grabbed Connor’s wrist, pulling him with him out of the room they were in. “Gavin,” Hank said a bit loudly. Gavin stopped, rolled his eyes and turned.

“What now?” He asked. His good mood didn’t last for long, Connor noted.

“You should take Connor with you, and you know it,” Hank said, finally letting go of Connor who almost ran into him. Connor couldn’t help but rub his wrist with his other end, despite not feeling any pain.

Gavin considered Connor for a moment, and, as usual, he looked at the guy from top to bottom, clearly judging the situation and trying to decide what to do.

“I already showed it the car, then it came in my car, and then-“

“Arrested your suspect,” Hank finished. Gavin gritted his teeth.

“I’m the one making the decisions for this case,” Gavin said, glancing at Connor, his fingers slightly tightening on the paper in his hand. Hank didn’t say anything, and Connor wondered if he should reassure him about his position on the case. Probably not, as to not offend him. He would probably think… Gavin was complicated.

Connor found that interesting and if he had to be honest, he wanted to learn more about him. But at the same time, being insulted all day long wasn’t his passion. Gavin met his eyes for a moment and approached, looking up at Connor, defensive.

“So if you don’t listen to me, I’ll leave you on the side of the fucking road, tin can.” Connor only tilted his head, remembering the talk in the break room, a couple of months ago.

“I’ll stay out of your way,” he said, amused, a little smile on his face.  “Tell me when you’re ready to go, Detective.”

 

Hank was really caring about that fucking android, wasn’t he? Gavin glanced at Connor in his rear-view mirror. Given the way he had scolded him after that “crossing a road by jumping over a car as to not get rolled over” episode, he was worried, yes. But why? Connor was nothing.

There was no way that machine was sitting next to him in his car.

Connor didn’t really care. Besides, Gavin was quiet. He looked down at the road outside his window, thinking for a moment, before turning his head to try and catch Gavin’s glance in the mirror.

“What do you think we will find in his apartment?” He asked.

“Anything that will prove he’s done it, or simply…” He gritted his teeth again. Connor could always see that his jaw was moving as if he was chewing. What a tense man.

“Ava,” Connor said, slightly nodding.

“Hey, you never know,” Gavin said, shrugging as he focused on the road. “Anyway, whatever happens. When we arrive, you do your thing, and you do not make me regret bringing you with me,” he said more coldly.

“It’s Mike who will have regrets after this, don’t worry,” Connor said, a little smile on his lips. Another glance from Gavin in the mirror, and the detective wondered if Connor was making fun of him. Too paranoid, he was. Too paranoid. Fucking androids.

 

They parked in front of the apartment, got out of the car and entered the building. Gavin checked the address on his phone and directly went for the stairs.

Once up the stairs, they saw a man waiting near Mike’s door. The caretaker. He had a bunch of keys in his hands and was leaning against the wall. He straightened up when Gavin arrived.

“Are you the of-“

“Detective Reed,” Gavin said, only nodding to him as he was already putting gloves on.

“Finally, we’ll get that little fucker out of here,” the caretaker said.

“Has he caused a lot of troubles?” Gavin asked as the man pushed open the door he had just unlocked.

“Him and his weird friends and their loud music… I get complains all the fucking time,” the man explained as Gavin and Connor stepped in the room. “And let me tell you about the smells! Those little… They don’t smoke cigarettes, let me tell you.”

“We’ll take care of this,” Gavin said, having heard enough for now. The caretaker stayed near the door, arms closed as he leaned on the door framed. Connor had silently walked in the room, going past Gavin who just looked at him.

“D’you see something already?” Gavin asked, himself moving in the room. Connor didn’t answer at first, his eyes wandering in the room.

“Give me a minute,” he answered. Gavin rolled his eyes and walked in the room, shooting in a plastic bag that was on the ground, with emptied tin cans. He couldn’t help but laugh quietly, giving a glance at Connor.

“Since when are you guys working with those?” The caretaker asked, nodding in the direction of Connor. Gavin looked over his shoulder at Connor before looking at the caretaker again.

“Wasn’t my fucking idea,” he said, laughing. The caretaker smiled, and Connor turned around, looking at him.

“My name is Connor and I would appreciate you letting me do my job,” he said calmly. Gavin had been ready to hear his usual catch-phrase, even if he wasn’t on a mission for CyberLife anymore. Instead, his tone and choice of words surprised him, and he slowly turned around to look at the android. He slowly approached, hands in his pockets.

“Did you also get a pair of balls, with those new feelings you’ve got, Connor?” He asked, an amused smile on his face. Hank had taught Connor about not letting other abuse him verbally, and when he was saying that, he was mainly speaking about Gavin. Until then, Connor didn’t do anything about it and just ignored him.

But that was the thing, wasn’t it? He was never telling anything to Gavin. These weren’t dialogues, it was him watching Gavin being an asshole. Ignoring him wasn’t changing anything. Would answer do something? Or did he have to be kind, like whenever he was talking to him? Yeah, Hank had taught him about not letting Gavin bully him constantly.

“Maybe I got them when you I stomped on yours in the evidence room, Detective Reed,” he said, still very calmly, as usual. He couldn’t tell what Gavin’s exact response to that was. His expression didn’t change, he still looked very amused, but he suddenly took a deep intake of breath. Was it because of shame, or anger?

It was excitement. Gavin wanted to laugh, as much as he wanted to punch him in the face. An android couldn’t disrespect him this way, and yet, seeing Connor starting to act this way was kind of fascinating. This moment was priceless. He didn’t know Connor could have any comebacks. But he couldn’t start an argument now. He had more important things to do.

He stared at Connor for a moment, crossed his arms as he approached, and he slowly walked around the android, observing him. Connor watched him do so, before glancing at the caretaker. Gavin didn’t say anything and instead, he walked away towards Mike’s desk to look at his stuff, starting by opening the drawers.

Connor started searching too, scanning the environment before disappearing in the bedroom. Gavin went in the small bathroom, opened the small cupboard above the sink, that had a dirty mirror as a door, and he looked at the different pills that were there. He then crouched, opening the cupboard under the sink, rummaging through Mike’s stuff and he ended up taking out a small plastic bag. He got out of the bathroom and went to the bedroom. Connor was crouching in front of one of the bedside table and Gavin leaned against the door frame.

“Red Ice,” he said, showing the small bag to Connor when he looked at Gavin. Connor, who had been looking at something in particular, that he had found in one of the drawers, also showed it do Gavin as he stood up.

“This key is from a storage unit downtown,” he said, walking towards Gavin and showing him the key he had found in a small box. “He cleaned it, or at least, he tried.” Gavin straightened up and approached Connor, looking at the key he was showing him. He took it between his fingers, inspecting it.

“Blood?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Can you tell whose blood?”

“Unfortunately, no, I would need a sample for that, there’s only traces left,” Connor said. Gavin glanced at him.

“But you know where this come from?” He asked, talking about the key. Connor only nodded.

“I know who made the key, to whom it belongs to and where the storage unit is,” he explained. Gavin stared for a second before glancing at the key again. “If the blood on it is Ava’s, then, he went there with his hands still…” He stopped, taking Gavin’s feelings into consideration. “Probably just after whatever has happened. He might have hidden proofs there, or even her.”

“Okay then, let’s go,” Gavin said before turning around to leave the bedroom, Connor on his heels. There hadn’t been any insult, or cold look, and he didn’t think for a second about going there alone and sending Connor on his way. He was too preoccupied with what they might find.

 

Gavin crouched in front of the garage door, flashlight in one hand, and he opened the door with the key. As he stood up, opening the door as he did so, he glanced at Connor, meeting his eyes for a second. Yes, Connor was smelling the same thing.

They glanced at the storage room. There were a lot of old furniture and things that hadn’t been used in years.

“I can go by myself,” Connor said, seeing that Gavin wasn’t moving and just staring. After a moment, without giving an answer, Gavin stepped in the room, turning on his flashlight, followed by Connor who looked at it in its entirety.

A body was nowhere to be found, but the smell was still there. And, when Gavin pointed at the ground with the light, he could see some drops of blood. That, he hadn’t taken the time to clean up. They followed the trail, making their way behind a desk and some boxes that were leaving a narrow space to go between them. The drops were stopping in front of a wardrobe, and the bottom of it had also traces of the liquid. Connor, still right behind Gavin, gave him a glance.

“Do you want me to-“

“It’s fine,” Gavin said, too quietly for his usual self. After a short moment, he gave Connor the flashlight and approached the wardrobe. What was he thinking anyway? That after an entire week, he would find her alive? He was good at fooling himself anyway. He ended up opening the doors, expecting to see the dead girl sitting in the corner of it.  Instead, he had to quickly take a few steps backward as the body, that had been shoved in the wardrobe in a moment of panic, without any care, fell backwards on the floor. Connor had to raise a hand, that stopped Gavin from running into him. Gavin didn’t even feel the end on his back, as he was staring at Ava, on the floor.

Connor only looked at her for a moment. The smell was stronger, but he wasn’t really affected by it. He glanced at Gavin. With his hand there, and because Gavin had been still for a moment, he could feel his heartbeat and his breathing.

“You should call it in,” Connor said quietly, glancing at the girl again. Gavin blinked and slowly turned his head to look at Connor. The room was dark, and Gavin was relieved by that. He could see Connor’s blue LED clearly and he realized he had his hand against his back. He didn’t say a word, though, as he swallowed his spit and looked down again. Finally, he turned around to go through the narrow passage again and get some air, as well as his phone.

Once left alone, after checking that Gavin wouldn’t see him, Connor approached the girl and crouched next to her. Bruises were still visible on her face, despite the discoloration of the body. He rapidly saw the injury that had caused the bleeding. A stab wound in her stomach. Connor didn’t think that Mike was trying to killer, at least not at first. It probably would have ended up like that, but she had been too badly injured, probably because she had tried to defend herself. He had been angry and had stabbed through her coat and clothes. He had to drive the car away, abandon it somewhere so that he wouldn’t be accused. Connor was pretty sure that if they were to look at Mike’s car, there would be blood in it. As he glanced at the wardrobe and that he saw some sheets covered in blood, he assumed that he had transported the girl in his trunk, in the sheets, so that he would be able to get her in the storage room.

Looking at the wound on her forehead, he thought that the girl hadn’t been dead just yet. That was probably why he had removed the sheets, if she had pulled up a fight.

Connor approached the wardrobe and saw a candlestick that could match the injury on her head.

He could hear Gavin’s voice coming from outside the room. He crouched next to the body again and, with two fingers, touched the blood before licking his fingers, checking that Gavin wasn’t coming back just yet. He glanced at the girl again before standing up and getting out of the room as well.

Gavin wasn’t on the phone anymore, but leaning against his car, hands in his pocket. Connor turned on the flashlight and walked towards him. Gavin was staring into space, not really noticing Connor’s presence, or at least not minding him. Connor could see that he had gotten paler. He put the flashlight on the hood of the car and leaned against it too, glancing at the storage room again.

“You couldn’t have saved her,” he said quietly. Gavin still didn’t look at him and Connor wondered if he had heard him. “She was dead the day she got kidnapped. It probably happened in the span of two, maybe three hours,” he added.

“How do you know?” Gavin asked after a few seconds of silence. Again, he was quiet.

“I just know,” Connor said calmly, not wanting to get into details about this. Gavin finally looked at him, staring at his face for a while, examining his features. He wondered if Connor was able to fathom the way he was feeling right now. Connor glanced at him, meeting his eyes, before he looked away respectfully, not wanting to disturb Gavin too much.

“I’ll have to talk to her parents,” Gavin finally said, looking away as well. At that point, he didn’t really feel weirded out by having a conversation with Connor. He was glad not to be alone to wait for the people he had called, to wait for the body to be examined and be transported to the morgue. He had called Hank directly, since he was still with Mike when we get back. He didn’t even think about him being an android, about the fact he was supposed to hate him. “Hank said he would tell call them. They’ll probably already be there.”

Connor wasn’t sure about what to say. Should he propose to go talk to them with him? Gavin would laugh at his face for even thinking of that, if it had been any other case.

“Are you going to be okay?” He ended up asking, still not looking at Gavin so that he wouldn’t make him feel uncomfortable. Gavin didn’t answer. He moved, opening the front door of the car and sitting in it. He didn’t close it, he probably just needed to sit down. He glanced at Connor through the windshield. His eyes stopped on his face for a moment. The LED wasn’t on this side of his face and he just looked human. Almost like someone Gavin could talk to and know that he would be understood. But Connor wasn’t just human, like someone he could talk to about all this. Gavin would rather lie to himself and think it was fine.

Connor didn’t insist, leaving him alone with his thoughts, and they waited for everyone to be there and take care of everything. Connor told another cop everything he had figured out to fill a report, and then, he walked towards Gavin, who was near the ambulance in which the body bag had already been charged. As he arrived, the ambulance started to leave.

“I guess I will go, then,” Connor said. Gavin turned to look at him, still looking quite pale. He frowned.

“What?”

“My work here is done,” he said. “I can get in their car to go back to the precinct. I thought you wouldn’t want me to bother you now that the case is closed,” he explained.

“Nah, it’s fine, I’ll drive you,” Gavin said. “You’ll be stuck here for another hour if you have to wait for them.” He started walking towards his car, Connor frowning slightly in incomprehension. But he walked towards the car anyway. Gavin opened the passenger seat’s door before going to open his own door and sit in the car. Still surprised, Connor sat on the front seat and didn’t make any remark, in case Gavin would try and throw him out the car on the highway.

 

“Again, I’m really sorry,” Gavin said quietly to Ava’s parents.

They were in a confined room of the precinct, used mainly for this kind of talks. Ava’s mother grabbed Gavin’s joined hands between hers.

“Thank you for finding her,” she said quietly, through tears. Her husband passed his arm around her and she ended up letting go of Gavin’s hands to hide her face against her husband. Gavin wasn’t able to answer, only to look away.

“Can we see her?” The tall man asked. Ava’s corpse came back in Gavin’s mind and he looked at the man.

“You will be contacted by the hospital,” he said quietly, wanting to tell them not to go see her. But he couldn’t do that if they absolutely wanted to. They would go anyway. “I’m sorry, I can’t give you more information.”

“And the man who did that?” The father asked. “What will happen to him?”

“I’ll make sure he’s not going to harm anyone again, I promise,” Gavin said, slightly nodding. His eyes stopped on the fourth person that was in the room. Connor was slightly afar, letting Gavin talk. He still didn’t really know why Gavin wanted him there in the first place. Connor met the father’s eyes but didn’t say anything.

“And him?” The man asked, looking at Gavin again. Gavin glanced at Connor before looking at the man again.

“It was-“ he stopped himself. It. He took a deep breath. They have always liked androids. Obviously, their neighbors, good friends of their parents, they had seen Gavin and his brother grow up. They had kind of shared all of that with them. So, when they got equal rights, it hadn’t been that hard for them to use other pronouns for them. They also knew that Gavin didn’t really like androids, and had often told him to be nicer with the one they had at their place, when he was still living around and would go over to their place, years ago.

It’s just a machine, he would always say.

But he had to be honest.

“Without Connor, I wouldn’t have found him nor caught him. So, I thought maybe you would want to meet him,” he said, not looking at anyone this time, feeling ashamed. Even now, his brother was surpassing him. He felt like he wasn’t able to do anything.

It wasn’t true, he was a good detective, he had always been good at what he was doing. But now, telling himself that without Connor, the outcome wouldn’t have been the same… It was killing him. He heard a sob coming from Ava’s mother and he looked down again.

“I’m glad you let him help,” the father continued, even if his voice was a bit strangled. “Did you put your differences with your brother aside, then?” He asked quietly. He was clearly trying to get past everything he had just learned, not break down too much in front of Gavin, to deal with his anger and sadness. He clearly also knew it was hard for Gavin, and was trying to know how he was doing. Connor’s LED flickered, becoming yellow.

Gavin glanced at the man for a second before shrugging.

“I know what matters, that’s all,” he said. “Ava mattered. I’m just… glad we know what happened.”

Ava’s father put his hand on Gavin’s shoulder, pressing it slightly and sadly smiling at him.

“I think we will go, now,” he said even more quietly than before. Gavin nodded.

“Of course, I’ll walk you back to your car,” he said. He started walking towards the door, the parents following. The mother stopped, though, as they arrived near Connor. She took one of his hands between hers and shook it slightly.

“Thank you for your help,” she said before sobbing again.

“Of course,” Connor said kindly, giving the father a look and slightly nodding. The father nodded back and they went on their way.

 

When Gavin got back in, as he stepped out of the elevator and glanced at the room they had talked in, he saw that Connor was still in it through the glass walls, sitting on a chair near the table. He glanced at the office, hesitated, and finally walked towards the room. He opened the door and stayed there, not getting closer as he didn’t plan on staying for long.

“Case is closed, why don’t you get back to your desk?” He asked, wondering why he was taking the time to talk to Connor. The android turned his head and looked at Gavin. He stood up, putting the chair back at its place.

“I needed a short break,” he simply said. He approached Gavin, who turned around to leave the room and walked in the hallway, Connor on his heels.

“Are they going to be fine?” He couldn’t help but ask. Gavin looked at Connor.

“They just lost their daughter, so it will take a while,” he just said, slightly annoyed. Connor had never dealt with grief. At least not directly. But he thought about Hank. How devastating it could be. He slightly nodded.

“And you?” He asked. “How are you going to be?”

Gavin stopped and turned to face Connor.

 “What’s it to you?” He asked.

“You knew her. I just thought-“

“I’ll be fine,” Gavin simply said, wanting to cut the conversation short. Connor only nodded.

There was a short silence, before Connor asked another question he had in his mind.

“You have a brother,” he said. Gavin blinked, and Connor could swear he had become nervous, as his pale face was becoming a bit red. He knew it wasn’t sudden shyness or embarrassment, and he wondered if it was anger or just anxiety.

“Stating stuff again, are you?” Gavin said, referencing their Christmas talk. Connor knew he wasn’t getting along with his family, since then. Was it because of his brother? Gavin glanced around, hoping Connor wouldn’t keep talking about it. “It’s none of your business,” he added, looking at him.

They stared at each other for a few seconds and Connor was almost certain that Gavin was about to break down. That day must have been very emotional for him.

“I’m not going to bother you anymore, then, you must be glad,” Connor said, getting the hint. Gavin rolled his eyes.

“Just having you around is a pain in the ass, tin can,” he said. Connor couldn’t help but slightly smile. Here they were. Where he wanted them to be. Gavin talking to him like he usually would.

Connor raised his left hand and tapped Gavin’s shoulder, pressing it slightly as he did so, and he walked past him.

“I’ll see you around, Gavin.”


	5. Kamski

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, I wrote this one faster than the last two haha  
> Ok so I really enjoyed writing this one, I'm not sure why. I hope you guys will enjoy it as well.   
> I really appreciate your comments, also, it makes me feel so much better about my writing !   
> Also, we dive deep into Gavin's psychology in this one, and that's something I always like to do. And I love writing interactions between Connor and him haha. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the kudos and the comments, as always ! I'll try to write the next chapter as soon as I can !

Two weeks. They had closed the case two weeks ago, but Gavin was still feeling weird. He couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t exactly nostalgia. How could he feel nostalgic about bad memories?

Maybe because things just went too far, to the point where he wishes he could still be a kid, before everything became so damn complicated. Even if at the time, things weren’t the greatest either. At least, he was still kind of oblivious. But not anymore, not at his age, not after a girl he had known and even looked after had been killed and was making him spiral down memory lane.

The day he had closed the case, when coming back home, he hadn’t been able to resist getting out this shoe box he kept above his wardrobe. He didn’t even know why he still had these pictures. He was never looking at them. Not ever. He had put them in that box, closed it, thought about setting fire to it, but he ended up leaving it there after moving in. Just in case.

In case… what? These where just memories of a past life, a life he didn’t like to think about, but that he couldn’t ignore. A life that was thrown at his face every time he was stepping out of his apartment. CyberLife was everywhere, androids were everywhere. Even on TV everyone was always talking about it. Even more so with the revolution and everything that came with it.

He had found the one he had been looking for, trying to ignore the rest. A picture taken during a sunny afternoon, at Ava’s place. Two couples were at the table. Ava’s parents, and his parents. Ava was in her high chair, Gavin and his brother, two teenagers, were sitting next to each other, looking at the lens, smiling. They didn’t exactly look like each other, but their smiles were always the same. They would rarely ever show their teeth and, despite appearances, they were often fake. Both because they didn’t want to be there, each for different reasons.

Gavin didn’t have his scar on his nose yet, but Elijah was already really pale, as he didn’t like spending time outside much.

He was already in college and working on some important things. He had better things to do than being social. That’s probably all they had been talking about, during that afternoon. Elijah’s work. Gavin couldn’t remember if that was the case, he was quiet and not paying attention to people much, when his brother was around.

Of course, Gavin hadn’t been able to help it, and he had looked at the other pictures he had kept. Pictures from when they were kids, when they were always together. A few pictures were from celebrations. Not just Gavin’s birthdays, or from the Christmas dinners they were always having with the entire family. Some of them were from ceremonies they had attended for Elijah’s achievements, obviously. And if Gavin was comparing them, he would be able to notice that his smile changed over the years. Elijah kept the same, Gavin’s slowly disappeared. He was too tired to fake it anymore, probably.

Like on the one from Elijah’s graduation from college. A shitload of pictures had been taken of Elijah that day, and Gavin had to be in some of them, even if he didn’t really want to. He didn’t keep the ones with their parents, or the ones with Elijah’s professors, or the college’s head teacher. He had kept the one their mother had forced them to take together. The last one they had ever taken together, actually. They were around the same height, he still didn’t have the scar and his hair was shorter. He was still in high school, and his brother was next to him, in his cap and gown. They had their arms around each other’s shoulder, Elijah had his usual smile, Gavin didn’t.

That night, he had looked at that picture for a while, the idea of tearing it apart and burn the pieces consuming his insides. But he didn’t, like he didn’t when he had packed his stuff and left his childhood home. He couldn’t understand why his heart could be so broken over the people that had hurt him the most. Wasn’t it weird? Shouldn’t he hate them? But wasn’t his sadness and his anger a proof that he was still caring about them? Why couldn’t it just go away?

He knew it wasn’t his brother’s fault. At least, not entirely. But he was still so mad at him, he couldn’t help it. He had thought about calling him. For years. But especially after that case. He wondered if he knew about Ava. He knew that he was living a recluse life, and that he was enjoying his plastic pets’ company more than he ever enjoyed humans.

Elijah had never tried to contact him either. He probably had lost interest in Gavin when his intellect had surpassed Gavin’s too much.

 

“So, what do you think?”

Gavin blinked, turning his head to look at Tina Chen. He had been lost in his thoughts about his brother for a while now. It had started when he had looked at the time, half-listening to Chen. 4:07pm. He had thought about Ava’s parents. At four, they must have been wondering why Ava wasn’t calling, since she was always doing it at that time of the day. Before remembering. He knew because he went to the funeral. He didn’t have too, but he couldn’t say no to Ava’s mother, even if he didn’t want to be there. He didn’t show himself much, as he knew his parents were there. He had showed up, stayed afar, and left after the coffin had disappeared in its hole. And a few days later, he had a cup of coffee at her parents’ place. They had talked about the past. Too much. But he didn’t show how annoyed he was. He understood their need at that moment. They had looked at old pictures, Gavin appearing on some of them. Maybe he shouldn’t have worked that case. Maybe he should have stayed at his desk when he had sighted Ava’s parents in the precinct. But even if he was an asshole with a lot of people, he would have never been able to ignore them.

“I thought that, you know… it would be a good idea,” Tina kept on going, clearly waiting for an answer from Gavin, who hadn’t listen to anything that had been said.

“Um… Maybe, yeah,” he only said, not sure he should tell her that she had been talking to the equivalent of a brick wall for a while now.

“Really?” Tina said, now smiling and not looking as nervous as she did before. “Awesome! Well, I can’t wait.” And with that, and a last smile to Gavin, she took her cup of coffee and walked away, leaving the break room. Gavin looked at her go, his fingers on tapping the edge of his cup of cold coffee, not sure about what had just happened.

“You seem distracted, Detective Reed.” Startled, Gavin turned his head, looking at Connor.

“What the…” He sighed. He hadn’t even noticed who had been coming and going in the room. Connor was in front of the coffee machine, apparently making one. Gavin had mixed feelings about Connor lately. He had noticed the glances, the fact that Connor was now greeting him every morning and that he wasn’t complaining, not once, about Gavin being obnoxious with him. He knew it was because of the case they had worked on together, and that for a moment, Connor saw right through him. He didn’t know if he was grateful that Connor wasn’t bringing it up, or if he was annoyed that that android kept showing that he was worried about him, or that he cared, in any way. He really couldn’t tell, at that point. Probably because he was so used to seeing Connor every day. It was easier to be around him, despite his hatred for androids. Yet, it wasn’t miraculously solving all his fucking problems.

Connor walked towards Gavin’s table with his cup.

“D’you… Do you even drink that?” Gavin asked, glancing at the coffee with that same expression Hank was always making when he thought Connor was either weird, or really dense for a super sophisticated android. Connor slightly tilted his head as he put the cup on the table, right in front of Gavin.

“Yours is cold,” he said. Gavin glanced at Connor, not liking this act of kindness very much. Was he interested in something? Maybe he was going to try and talk about his family again. Gavin chose not to thank him, and to ignore the cup for now. “Do you know what you’ve just agreed to?”

“What?”

“You were talking with Officer Chen, or… She was doing the talking. You weren’t listening, were you?” Connor asked, and Gavin gritted his teeth when he saw the corners of Connor’s lips slightly curl up. He stopped looking at them, meeting his eyes.

“So?” He asked, somehow aggressively. Yet, his heart was not in it, and Connor felt that his annoyed expression wasn’t real.

“She asked you to have coffee with her before coming to work tomorrow morning,” Connor explained calmly. Gavin raised an eyebrow. Was he playing some kind of game, or was it the truth? Gavin glanced in the direction of the desks, before focusing on Connor again. “Apparently, she doesn’t like this coffee much. So, she wants one from the coffee shop down the road,” Connor kept on going. He wasn’t being interrupted, and he couldn’t tell what Gavin was thinking, he had a hard time reading his expression. “She seems to be the only one here who truly enjoy your company,” he added, visibly amused.

Gavin frowned again, before looking away. Connor wasn’t wrong, actually. There was barely any of his coworker that could spend more than five minutes around Gavin without wanting to insult him. And he wasn’t trying to change their minds, he didn’t care. He wasn’t there to make friends. And he wasn’t there to go on dates with Tina. Shit.

“’Cause she doesn’t know what she’s in for,” he mumbled.

“What’s that?” Connor asked, leaning a bit against the table, even though he had perfectly heard Gavin. He got a glance from the Detective, who just shook his head.

“Whatever, don’t you have better things to do anyway?” He sighed.

“Probably, yes,” Connor said, without moving from his spot. “Now that you know, do you still want to go, tomorrow?” He asked, curious.

Gavin was such a loner. He didn’t even have a partner to work with. Well, maybe it was just because he was insufferable, but Connor was pretty sure he didn’t mind doing everything by himself. Gavin was reminding him of this character he had read about in one of Hank’s book. The Headless Horseman. But instead of missing a head, Gavin was missing a heart, or something like that. Wasn’t the story implying that the Headless Horseman was, in fact, really a rider in disguise? Maybe Gavin was like Brom, walking around in disguise.

“Why wouldn’t I go?” Gavin asked, defensive. He was able to feel things. Well, if he had to be honest, he wasn’t feeling this way about Chen, never had. But somehow, he didn’t like Connor meddling with his thoughts. Connor only shrugged.

“I’m only asking. You agreed to something without knowing what it was about. And, even if it is your fault, you should have the right to choose what you want to do,” Connor said, being his rational self. Gavin narrowed his eyes for a second.

“It’s too late anyway. I said yes, I’m not gonna go find her and tell her I’ve changed my mind,” Gavin said, rolling his eyes.

“So, you don’t actually want to go,” Connor concluded.

“The fuck are you doing, tin can? It’s none of your business!” Gavin said, getting impatient. “Why am I even talking to you?” Connor smiled again.

“Is it a problem, if you’ve changed your mind?” Gavin couldn’t help but shortly laugh as he leaned against the table too.

“Oh, let me guess. You don’t know anything about this kind of stuff.” He raised his hand, gently tapping Connor’s LED with his forefinger. “They don’t teach you that in android school.”

“I didn’t go to school, and there’s no such thing as a school for androids,” Connor said, slightly frowning. Gavin stared for a short moment before crossing his arms on the table. “I do know some things about relationships, I’m not clueless…” Connor decided to add, Gavin noticing a feeling of embarrassment coming from him because of his tone. And he wasn’t looking at him while saying that, but at the table, like a lost puppy who had just failed at doing something quite simple. “I just don’t think people should be forced to do what they don’t want to do.”

“Even if it’s to avoid for somebody to get hurt?” Gavin asked, now quite curious about Connor’s way of reasoning.

“But you don’t care about that,” Connor said directly, looking lost. “At least, not usually. Or you don’t show it,” he added lastly. Gavin pursed his lips and looked away.

“It’s a problem if she’s expecting something. Now she must be happy,” he said, slightly shaking his head. The thought of it was making him sick.

“But is she not going to get hurt anyway, when you won’t return her feelings in spite of the date?” Connor asked. He had never felt this kind of feelings for anyone. He had been programmed to be an ideal partner, yes, but when it came to work in a team and investigate cases. Not this kind of partner. But now that he was free to feel whatever he wanted, or even what he didn’t want, he knew it could happen. Maybe.

“Stop calling it a date…” Gavin said more quietly, looking around. He didn’t like the idea. He hadn’t dated anyone in a very long time. “And… she will, I guess. But it’s better if it just doesn’t work out than me telling her I don’t even want to go on a date with her,” Gavin concluded, now getting a bit weary with this conversation. The thought that he was speaking about it with Connor wasn’t even what was weird to him. Actually, he wasn’t even really thinking about that.

“But would it be that bad if the result is the same?” Connor asked, tilting his head. He didn’t understand. Why would Gavin waste precious time to do something like that if the outcome was going to be the same? Gavin slightly raised his head as he scratched his chin, thinking about it.

“Well, it would be sad,” was all he said. Connor’s LED turned yellow under Gavin’s gaze.

Connor had noticed that he also kept glancing around, as if he didn’t want to be noticed, or rather seen talking calmly with Connor.

“It’s fine if you don’t show others you appreciate me,” he said more quietly, even though he wasn’t sure he meant it. It was a bit hurtful, but he knew Gavin, and he wasn’t surprised about this attitude. Maybe he would change, with time.

“I don’t appreciate you,” Gavin directly said, “I’m just…”

“Accustomed to my presence?” Connor said, seeing that Gavin was searching for the right words. Gavin shrugged, looking anywhere but at Connor. “I won’t tell anyone,” Connor said, not being able to stop himself from smiling. How insecure must Gavin be, to act this way? “Why do you despise me, then,”

“’Cause you’re fucking obnoxious,” Gavin mumbled, only glancing at Connor. He stopped when he saw the smile on his face. Connor had to be the perfect employee. Being over-performing without even bragging once about it. No, he was humble, that guy. He only had qualities, that guy. And everyone was falling for it. But not Gavin, no. He wouldn’t fall for those puppy eyes, that stupid voice and everything that came with it. He wouldn’t be coaxed by someone like Connor. Someone? It was a machine. Just a fucking android.

“Am I?” Connor asked. Gavin shrugged, obviously annoyed. “I’m never getting in your way, yet, your mood changes whenever I’m in the room.”

“You’re a fucking android,” Gavin finally let out, looking at Connor again.

Did it mean that if he was just a normal human being, Gavin would appreciate him? Connor wasn’t even sure about that, since Gavin seemed to enjoy being an asshole, and live a recluse life.

“Is that so bad?” Connor asked. He still wasn’t sure why Gavin hated androids so much. Yes, it could be because they were a threat to his job. But no one could feel this amount of hatred towards something for such a reason.

“In my book, yeah,” Gavin said calmly, with a tired tone.

“Why?” Connor asked. There was a short moment of silence, during which Gavin considered him.

“Haven’t you done your research just yet?” He finally asked, curious to know if Connor had managed to find more about him, given how curious he seemed to be.

“I wouldn’t be as intrusive as to find out stuff behind your back if you don’t want to talk about it,” Connor simply stated. He wasn’t like that. Back when he met Hank, a very secretive person, he had learned about the man only through things he would let him know. Either because he would tell him about it, like his love for real books, or because things were displayed for him to see, like on his desk. But he would always directly ask the man for what he wanted to know, unless he was stumbling across it by accident, like his son’s picture.

With Gavin, it was the same. He had never looked for anything about him. He had always asked him, tried to have conversations with him. And whenever Gavin would send him on his way, he would tell himself that he would try and discuss another time. He knew Gavin could be different. He was able to show kindness and compassion, and be humble, he had witnessed it with Ava’s parents. And he didn’t even know about the funeral or Gavin going to their place to talk with them and make sure they were alright. Connor just needed to find out how to make him understand that it was alright to talk to him and see him as an equal.

Gavin wasn’t sure he could believe Connor’s words but he didn’t want to say anything about it. He just looked at the desks again and wondered if it wasn’t time for him to go back to work and cut this conversation short.

“Does it have something to do with your brother?” Connor finally asked. This was something he couldn’t figure out. And he didn’t like not being able to figure out stuff for too long.

“Why do you keep bringing that up?” Gavin asked, not able to stop his sigh. Connor looked down for a second.

“I’m sorry. The way he talked about it,” he said, mentioning Ava’s father, “made it seem like it had something to do with working with me, and androids altogether.” Damn, Connor was too perceptive. Gavin tried to keep his composure as he shrugged.

“Even if it had something to do with it, it’s really… It doesn’t matter. I’m not gonna change my mind about you,” he said, and by “you”, he meant androids in general. Connor slightly nodded.

“Understandable, I guess,” he said. He didn’t know if it was because maybe his brother liked androids more than him, or because they had fought over them and that they weren’t talking because of it, he had no clue about what had happened. He could only be understanding, curious and somehow disappointed to see Gavin stuck in these problems just because of androids. “Whatever happened with your brother,” he continued. “isn’t family… important?” he asked, getting Gavin’s full attention again. “I don’t know much about that, obviously, if it weren’t for Hank, I’d be alone. But I know how important it must be, to the point where it can destroy you not to have it anymore,” he said. Hank seemed to only have his son at the time. At least, Connor knew nothing about the rest of his family. And losing him had been the worst thing he had ever experienced, and he was still hurt daily because of it. Wasn’t Gavin feeling lonely? Wasn’t Gavin sad, not having his brother by his sides, sometimes?

Gavin was staring at Connor, touched, somehow, by this very simple question. Isn’t family important? It was always odd to see a grown man -machine!- not knowing much about those things. He had the body of an adult, but a way of understanding and reacting to emotions of an infant, sometimes. He had to be honest, he guessed.

“Yeah, it is,” he let out, looking down, as if he was speaking to himself and not to Connor. “It’s important. But sometimes, there are things you can’t just… erase. And sometimes, you’re better off without toxic people in your life,” he said. He finally looked up at Connor again, clearing his throat. “It’s not because it’s your family that they can’t hurt you,” he finally said, a bit more quietly, as if saying it was too much. Not because he was admitting to Connor that he had been hurt in the past and that he wasn’t just a glorious asshole who didn’t feel anything, but because it had always been something very hard to accept.

Feeling like you were never enough, like your parents never cared about you the way they cared about your brother, and having not only them, but everyone making you feel this way when you’re growing up… Sometimes, you were just better off without these people in your life. And it wasn’t supposed to be like that, your family was supposed to be there for you. Maybe that was why he could never let go of this anger. Because it was unfair.

“You know, last time I actually saw my brother face to face,” he finally continued after a moment of silence, feeling a bit uncomfortable by Connor’s insistent gaze, “I got this,” he said, pointing at the scar on his nose. “I haven’t spoken to him since,” he said. He took a deep breath, looking down at his two cups of coffee. They were both cold, now.

“How old were you?” Connor couldn’t help but ask. Gavin shrugged.

“Seventeen. He was sixteen,” he said. Twenty years without talking to his brother. Connor slightly frowned.

“And don’t you ever want to speak to him?” he asked. Gavin stared for a while. Not with a mean look, he didn’t roll his eyes either, or showed any sign of annoyance. He seemed to be realizing things too, or just to be thinking about things that he didn’t like to think about, mainly because it was hurting him. Connor had never seen this kind of look coming from Gavin, and he wondered if he went too far, making him think about that situation too much. He was about to open his mouth, to say that Gavin didn’t have to talk about it, but he was interrupted.

“I don’t think he’d care,” Gavin finally said, implying that he had thought about it, clearly, but that it wasn’t worth the trouble. Connor got it.

With a little tap on the table, Gavin straightened up, grabbed the coffee Connor had brought him, even if it was cold now, and he left the break room, leaving the other cup on the table with Connor.

 

 

[2018]

“That is enough!” a man yelled, coming through the crowd of students gathered around the two teenagers. Gavin was on the floor, a small cut under his chin. He sat up, not able to stand up right away. “What the hell is this?”

He only glared at the teacher, gritting his teeth. He stood up, replacing his sleeve on his shoulder.

“It’s all Kamski’s fault!” the other guy said, pointing at him. A blatant lie. He was the one that came over and started insulting him. He had done so for the past few years, it wasn’t new. At first, when he was younger, Gavin had let him do whatever he wanted. But for a couple of years, he had started giving back whatever he’d receive, often getting in trouble. This time, he didn’t even have the time to do so.

He had just been drinking at the fountain on the wall, when he had come up to him.

“Your brother graduated college yesterday, didn’t he?” He had asked Gavin. Tired of hearing about it, whether it’d be because of his family or because of the teachers, Gavin had just sighed.

“What about it?”

“We saw the pictures, a lot of people are talking about it, huh?” Gavin hadn’t liked the smile on his face and, weary, he only stared at the boy, not saying anything. “You didn’t even smile for the picture. Jealous of your brother much?”

“What do you want, Jay?” Gavin had only asked.

“Life’s funny that way,” the boy had approached and slightly pushed Gavin with one hand. “What are you, Kamski, besides your name?” Jay had looked at him from top to bottom, the same smile on his face. “Nothing. Just the dumb sibling, aren’t you?”

“What can I say, man, being around you inspires my stupidity.” Gavin had himself approached Jay. The boys where close to each other and people had already noticed what was about to happen. It wasn’t uncommon to see them argue or fight.

“Maybe you should hang out with your brother more, then. Get out of this school, of this town even… finally make your parents proud.” Gavin hadn’t been able to help it and had grabbed Jay by the collar. The students around them started making more noise, encouraging a fight. “Go on then,” he had laughed. Gavin couldn’t be punished again, in the end, he would end up being thrown out of that fucking school and Jay knew it. “Or is it true? You’re that much of a bitch?”

Gavin had stared at the boy for a moment before slowly letting go of his collar. He sniffed, slowly passing his hand on the creased cloth before putting his hands on Jay’s shoulders.

“It’s fine, you’re not worth anybody’s time, especially not mine.” Gavin had started walking away but Jay wanted something. If he had to provoke Gavin as much as he could for him to throw a punch, he would.

“Hey, Kamski,” he called. Gavin had just turned his head to look at him, but he only saw a fist coming his way. Hit on the cheek, near the eye, and surprised by the attack, he had stumbled backwards and fell. In his fall, the side of his chin had hit the fountain. Students around them were screaming. That’s when the teacher had come to stop whatever was happening.

When they were called out and that Jay accused him, Gavin felt his insides burning.

“I don’t care about whose fault it is!” The teacher said. The crowd was starting to disperse, but there was some watchers left. “Both of you, follow me!” Jay smiled at Gavin. The teacher had started walking but stopped, noticing that the boys weren’t following him. “What are you waiting for?”

Gavin slowly looked down, teeth gritted to the point his jaw was starting to hurt him. Or was it because of his chin? His hands had become fists, clenched so strongly that his articulations were white.

“I heard he doesn’t even hang out with you,” Jay said quietly, knowing that Gavin would understand who he was talking about. It shouldn’t be a surprise, because Elijah wasn’t hanging out with anyone. And yet, it hurt.

Gavin threw himself at Jay, both of them falling on the floor. He hit him once, twice maybe, before the teacher had grabbed him, trying to pull him backwards and make him stop. Another student had helped and, before he knew it, Gavin was sitting in the principal’s office again.

 

On his way back home, in his mother’s car, Gavin was staring out the window, not listening to a word she was saying. She had to come and pick him up at school after a call from the principal. She was so mad. But again, she was always mad at him. His fingers were playing with one of the straps of his backpack and his gray eyes were on the horizon, looking at the world and the sky. Its color wasn’t far from his eyes’ and his feelings’, at that point.

“You better thank your brother when we get back, if it weren’t for him, you would have been thrown out of this school long ago,” she was saying. “I swear to god, Gavin, you’re trying to drive me crazy! I don’t know what to do anymore! Why can’t you be more mature? Why can’t you act like your brother, instead of being so selfish!” Gavin looked down. He could keep telling himself it was just because she was angry, but he couldn’t keep the sadness at bay. “And how are you going to look tonight? Look at your face! I’ll have to cover that and make up for your mistakes again! Can’t you just, for once, stay out of trouble, Gavin?” She sighed loudly. “What have I done to have such a terrible kid,” she mumbled to herself.

It seemed like he had never spent as much time in a car. He felt like the way just kept getting longer. Every time he thought that they were almost home, at last, he realized that they weren’t. His head was hurting, and he just wanted to lock himself in his room for the next few years. He had a band-aid on his chin, for the cut. But his jawline and his cheek had changed color already.

“You can’t be on the pictures looking like that,” his mother kept on mumbling as she parked the car in front of the house. Gavin directly opened his door and got out, his backpack in his hand.

“Great, I don’t want to be on your stupid photos anyway,” he said coldly, walking fast towards the house, his mother following him. She kept on yelling as they got inside their big house.

“And you better hurry,” she said as they entered the kitchen. “Go take a shower and get ready now, I don’t want to waste anymore time because I have to cover that mess.” It was just appearances for them, always had been. Gavin turned to look at his mother.

“You won’t have to, I’m not interested in coming to your stupid party,” he said scornfully, putting his bag on a stool in front of the counter. His mother looked taken aback for a second, as if she was very agitated by the fact her party could be deemed stupid. He didn’t want to go to a family gathering that would make him feel even more bad. His brother wouldn’t mind anyway, he probably didn’t want to go either and would just think he was lucky to be able to stay home.

“What are you going to do instead, then? Stay here and play games, as you always do?” Gavin shrugged, opening the fridge to take a bottle of water. He only sipped once before taking his bag again, ready to get out of that room.

“Yeah, I can’t do anything else, I might as well stick to that,” he said, sounding calm. And yet, behind that tone, all his contempt could be heard. It was just too much, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Your brother is going to be disappointed!”

“Well I don’t care!” Gavin suddenly yelled, turning around to face his mother as he threw his backpack on the floor. “You’re only doing that for yourself anyway! To feel better about yourself!”

“Gavin?” Gavin turned his head, seeing Elijah entering the kitchen. They had been making so much noise that they had been able to get him out of the room. It was almost a miracle. But Gavin didn’t feel good when he saw him. He just felt like punching a wall. He turned around to walk out of the room before he could hear anymore reproaches. “What’s the matter with him?” Elijah asked his mother when he saw him leave, not understanding what was going on. Gavin turned. He was in the doorway and was about to cry. Not because he was sad, but because he was angry.

“It’s all your fucking fault!” He yelled at Elijah. His brother didn’t really react. He stared at Gavin, noticing the bruises on his face. He understood, now.

“Gavin! Watch your mouth!” Their mother said. Gavin was already walking away again. Elijah rushed forward to grab Gavin’s wrist and make him turn.

“Gav, wait! Just tell me-“

Turning around, Gavin suddenly pulled his arm so that Elijah would let go of him. He almost made his brother fall.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” He yelled. “I hate you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure how to introduce the flashback so I just put the year before so that you guys wouldn't get too confused I guess.   
> I like writing those, so there's probably gonna be more flashbacks in this story. At least, some with both Gavin and Elijah, as it's important for Gavin's story and behavior. 
> 
> yes, Gavin being more than a one dimensional character gives me a boner, what can we do about this
> 
> also, unimportant information but if you want to know which song I usually listen to when I write my sweet angsty!Gavin, it's "Jesus Christ" by Brand New. I thought you guys might enjoy it as well  
> Next chapter will be more about Gavin's love life, I believe, as I have a few things to write about that, but I'll see how it will turn out!


	6. J

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my dudes i'm way too invested in Gavin's past i think it's an actual illness i can't help it  
> but seriously it gives me so much feels even though I'm the one creating it? Idk I just love him so much.   
> ANYWAY. Ok so I told you we would learn more about Gavin's love life, well, here you go. So yeah it's just really important to understand Gavin's way of dealing with everything, you know? There will be a chapter talking about that big fight with Elijah, but it's not gonna be in the next one, at least I don't think so.   
> And there will be more Connor now, but I needed to go over that stuff with Gavin.   
> Besides, you see some stuff with Connor, hihi, that oblivious little shit
> 
> WARNING: it doesn't bother me but i don't want to get attacked or anything. the f-word appears once in this chapter. Believe me I don't write that character as homophobic, it was part of how they were talking to each other at the time -not spoiling anything- (oh and yes there is a fucking vine reference it happened in 2016-17 i mean it was the shit at the time. ) so yeah, just a heads up, it's just fiction, I don't want for anyone to get upset about this

“But enough about me,” Tina said, laughing quietly. “I feel like I’m getting boring,” she said, slightly smiling at Gavin.

“No, no you’re not,” he simply said, looking at her again. They were sitting at a table at the coffee shop Tina had wanted to go to. She was already in her uniform and Gavin had his badge and gun on his belt, as they had to go to the precinct right after. He wasn’t into this date thing, still, but he was doing his best to be the better version of himself that morning. He wasn’t talking much, though, Tina had noticed.

“You’re a good listener but, what about you… tell me more about yourself,” she said, laughing quietly. “I mean, we’ve known each other for a couple of years but you’re a mystery for everyone at work,” she added. A bit taken aback and slightly smiling because of how uncomfortable he was feeling having to talk about himself, Gavin looked down at the cup of coffee he was holding between his hands.

“Am I, really?” He asked with a little laugh before he looked at Tina again. “I don’t really like talking about myself, I wouldn’t really know what to say that’d be interesting,” he explained as he shrugged. Tina was smiling ever since Gavin had arrived.  And now, she found him cute, confusing his desire to keep quiet with shyness, which would be such a surprising side of his usual arrogant personality.

“Alright, well, I told you about how I ended up working here. Why don’t you start with something like that?” she said, trying to help him out, very curious about his life before being a detective. “I know you didn’t grow up in Detroit, so that’s something.”

“Yeah, I… I was living just outside the city,” he said, looking away from her before clearing his throat, moving a bit on his stool as he tried to be more comfortable.

“Any brothers or sisters maybe?” she said, smiling at how poorly he was performing. Gavin glanced at her, opening his mouth as he took a deep breath. Tina had two sisters, she had been talking about them, he guessed it was only fair to be sharing the same kind of information. And yet…

“No. I was an only child,” he said, not feeling like confiding in her. He didn’t really know why he lied. Admitting he had a brother wasn’t shouting that his old name was Kamski and that his brother was no other than Elijah Kamski. Yet, he didn’t feel like he wanted her to know anything about him.

He liked Tina, she was a good person and she was patient with him. Well, maybe it was just because she had that crush on him, or whatever. But still, she was… a cool lady, yeah. Gavin smiled at her awkwardly.

“I was just with my parents and… After high school, I went to college here, and I liked it. So I stayed,” he explained. That wasn’t a lie, he did move in Detroit for college and decided to never leave. He had hesitated at the time, because his brother had also decided to move to Detroit to create CyberLife, even before Gavin went to college. But he wasn’t going to keep pushing away his own ambitions because of his family. “Then I worked my way to my position,” he added, slightly nodding as he looked at his coffee again.

“And…” Tina started, putting a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Any girlfriend, maybe?” This time, she wasn’t really looking at him either, because she was a bit nervous. With a snort of amusement, Gavin shook his head.

“Ah, not since college,” he said. “I… dated this girl for two years but it never really lead anywhere,” he simply explained, not wanting to go into details either.

“College was a long time ago,” Tina said, not able to hide her surprise. Gavin tilted his head with a little smile.

“Thanks for the reminder, I know, I’m getting old,” he said. Tina laughed and shook her head.

“That’s not what I meant,” she laughed, making Gavin smile slightly. “It’s just…  It’s been what, fifteen years for you?” Gavin looked down for a second before nodding.

“Yeah, more or less.”

“It’s a long time for… I mean, you never dated again?” Gavin shrugged at that question.

“I never had nothing serious since then, no,” he simply said, starting to feel like if he had to talk about it, it would soon become awkward.

“Is it just because you prefer living this way, or because of the way you act?” Tina asked, looking amused. Gavin knew she didn’t mean the end of it.

“Probably a bit of both, I think.” Again, she laughed. Yeah, she was having a good time, just being around him. Gavin felt bad.

“And don’t you ever think about settling down, now? Like you said, you’re getting old,” she jokingly said, softly tapping Gavin’s arm as if she was showing compassion.

“I don’t know,” he simply said, looking out the window, a bit uncomfortable again. “I guess I just need to find the right person? I don’t know if it’s for me, really…” he simply said, glancing at Tina who perfectly hid her disappointment.

They kept talking for a moment, before inevitably having to leave the place. They just walked in the direction of the precinct that wasn’t far away. Gavin kept his hands in his pockets and was barely looking at Tina. He felt bad for her, knowing he wouldn’t go on another date or anything with her. It was fine. She was probably going to wait for him to propose something. He just had to avoid doing it, one “date” didn’t mean it obviously had to work out, right?

“Well, this was really nice, we should do this more often,” Tina said, stopping in front of the precinct. Gavin heard her talking about the quality of the precinct’s coffee but only focused on her words as she continued. “Or maybe… next time we could have dinner, or something?” she asked. Gavin liked how forward she was, and yet, he couldn’t do that to her.

“Yeah, it was really nice. But you know, Tina,” he began, finally looking at her. He could see that she understood where he was going with this, but she let him continue. “Like I said, I don’t think all this stuff is meant for me. I had a good time, really, but I wouldn’t want you to… expect something that’s not going to happen.” Here, he had been honest, and kind of direct, to make sure she wouldn’t insist or get the wrong idea. It wasn’t her, it was him, and he was clearly aware of it. She was a fine girl. He just wasn’t a fine guy for now.

Tina was now clearly disappointed and couldn’t look at Gavin at the moment. Because she was sad as well as a bit embarrassed. She knew that Gavin accepting the date wasn’t him promising they would spend their life together, but she had hoped that maybe he would have realized something, he would have maybe wanted to do it again with her, or something. She placed her hair behind her ear again, looking at the ground as she smiled awkwardly.

“It’s fine, it’s… We’re going to be late, we better go. I’ll see you around,” she said more quietly before giving him a smile and turning around to enter the precinct, leaving Gavin on the sidewalk, looking at her going.

“Good job, fucking idiot,” he mumbled to himself before going in as well.

 

Gavin liked to train after his shift. It was late and he was able to blow off some steam and going over the cases in his head. If he had anything new coming to him, he just needed to go back to his desk and work a bit more. He was used to do more hours. Besides, at this time, most of his colleagues were home already. Most of them had families, or just better things to do. Gavin didn’t, and he liked being in the gym when it was empty. He’d change and would box with a punch bag to get the stress of the day out of his system. In the same training shorts he had been using for years, a tank top and bandages around his hands, he could stay there for a long time.

That evening, he couldn’t focus, though. His conversation with Tina that morning was stuck in his head. Didn’t he want to settle down? At his age? Funnily enough, when he was a teenager trying to envision his future, he thought that by thirty-seven, he’d at least be with someone. Maybe married. Maybe he’d have a kid. But it was just far from where he was. Focused on his thoughts, he didn’t even notice Connor.

The android had been in the archive rooms, looking at some things he was thinking about for the case he was working on with Hank since that morning. He had picked up two files that seemed interesting enough, as there were similarities with the murder they were investigating, and he was ready to go back to his desk. But, leaving the room and walking in the hallway, he walked past the training room. Most walls in the precinct were made of glass, like the Captain office, many rooms had been built this way when they had to renovate some parts of the building, making it more in line with current tastes. By glancing in the room, he had spotted Gavin and stopped at the door for a second, looking at the detective throwing punches. For some reason, he had let his eyes go down on his arms, slightly gleaming because of his sweat. Then on his legs, then back on his chest, and finally on his face. His hair wasn’t the longest, but some small strands were stuck on his forehead, the rest of his hair moving with his movements.

He still wasn’t sure why he stopped, but the door was open and, one hand on the side of the glass wall, he stayed there, his files in his other hand as he stared at Gavin.

The cop really didn’t notice, though. He was reminiscing, now. Yes, the relationship he had in college was the longest he ever had and maybe it was sad in other people’s minds, but not for Gavin. He didn’t keep neither good nor bad memories of this relationship, and it didn’t matter to him anymore. Actually, the most intense relationship he ever had, without ever really dating that person, had been with another guy. He hadn’t thought about him in a long time, and it was alright. And yet, he could remember everything as if it had happened the day before, and not around twenty years ago. Because he was fifteen when it all began, and around twenty-two when it was definitely over.

 

Jacob, that was his name. A high school friend. A good friend, actually. Gavin had him over after school, in 2016. He was going to eat with the family and maybe sleep over. It wasn’t the first time, his parents knew Jacob, his brother too. They had been in his room all afternoon, mainly playing video games on Gavin’s console, sitting on the couch. He had a big room. They had money, like everyone in that street, and his room was spacious.

Jacob had always been nice with Gavin. They had known each other for a couple of years only, but he had always seen Gavin for whom he was. That’s probably why they were getting along so well, they just enjoyed each other company. And that day, on that couch, they kissed. Gavin still couldn’t tell how that happened, or maybe he couldn’t remember. It had often been a bit ambiguous with Jacob, whenever they were spending time alone, so it wasn’t that surprising that it ended up happening, and that Gavin enjoyed it. They both enjoyed it, and kept kissing on that couch for a while, discovering these new feelings. Until Gavin’s father opened the door to ask what they wanted to eat that evening.

He didn’t yell, he didn’t get mad. That was something, Gavin guessed. After fully realizing what was going on, he asked Jacob to leave. He needed to have a conversation with his son and he wasn’t sure that him being around at that moment was the best idea. Gavin still didn’t know why Jacob had obeyed without saying anything besides a quiet “goodbye” to him.  Maybe because he was out to his family, and that he knew that this conversation was inevitable, and that Gavin should probably have it by himself, because if his father wasn’t understanding, having him around wouldn’t be such a good idea. He didn’t know, but Jacob left. Again, his father didn’t yell. Yet, no matter how calm he tried to stay, he was bothered, and Gavin could tell. And no matter how much he claimed not being gay, that it just happened, that it wasn’t such a big deal, his father didn’t believe him. He told him how it could affect them, that he didn’t want Gavin to suffer from it, when Gavin knew he was mostly caring about his image.

Gavin was short tempered, at that age, and had angrily claimed that if he was indeed gay and that his father was actually caring for his happiness, he wouldn’t say anything. His father just said “but you told me you weren’t gay, so you won’t have any problem not doing it again, right?” His parents were so fucking stubborn, always wanting to be right. He didn’t understand why it was such a big deal for his father. And of course, he told his mother, in front of his brother, when he left the room and got back downstairs. They didn’t say anything about it during the dinner, though. For his father, the problem had been dealt with, Gavin wouldn’t be seeing Jacob again. Later, as he was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, his mother had come to talk to him. She wasn’t disagreeing with her husband often, but for some reason, that day, she was. Well, she still said that if he could keep all of this secret, it would be easier for everyone, but, after sitting down with him for a few minutes and after actually listening for what he had to say, for once, she was fine with it. Gavin had told her that he liked girls. But that somehow, he liked Jacob.

So Gavin guessed he was bi. He didn’t know, he was a bit lost, at that point, and he was only fifteen, it was a bit scary.

In his bed that night, he received a text from his brother.

[you a faggot?] Gavin had laughed at his brother’s text, alone in his room.

[shut the fuck up I ain’t gay, mind your own business] he replied. He knew his brother wouldn’t care either way.

[so what, you’re bi?] he asked him.

[I guess] he replied.

[but I thought you were american] The thought of strangling his brother in his sleep came to his mind.

[sleep with one eye open eli] he texted him, slightly smiling.

[Jacob and Gavin sitting in the tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g]

He dated Jacob for about a month. Mainly because Gavin was keeping it a secret, and that Jacob didn’t want to have to hide after having learned how to accept himself. It wasn’t a bad break-up, they stayed friends. And sometimes, Gavin was wondering what it could have been, if he had been more comfortable and had stood up for himself.

They even became very good friends again with time, after getting adjusted to everything that happened.

After his big fight with Elijah, when he was seventeen, Gavin had left his house for a while and stayed at Jacob’s place over the summer. His father had said that if he was walking out after the mess he had created that day, he wasn’t allowed to come back home. Gavin had walked away without even looking back, his nose still bleeding. He did come back, his mother had wanted him to from day one. Besides, his brother had moved out himself so it was easier for Gavin to be in that home. Yet, on the phone that night, he told her he needed some time to figure some things out, and that he would stay away during the holidays. She even didn’t tell his father where he was staying at, even if she had demanded the information just to be reassured. That’s the only thing he was grateful for, when it came to his mother. His father was so mad at him that he didn’t try to contact Gavin for the two months he spent at Jacob’s place.

Jacob’s parents really liked Gavin. They cleaned up the cut on his nose and welcomed him in their home. He stayed in Jacob’s bedroom , they had shared each other’s bed in the past, when they were younger, it was alright. They spent the summer together, sometimes going to parties, sometimes hanging out outside, sometimes smoking cigarettes on Jacob’s balcony.

They did sleep together a few days before Gavin went back home.

He did his last year in high school before going to college. The main reason he went back home at the time was to be able to afford college, actually. He wouldn’t have minded staying a while longer at Jacob’s, or find a job and find an apartment of his own. But he thought that he could at least make the most of the situation. His parents paid for college, and Gavin would stay in a dorm, there, so that he didn’t have to spend his time back home, around people he couldn’t stand. He would barely visit them. His mother was the one calling but he would never be the one doing so.

People there liked Gavin. It wasn’t like in high school, where he was diminished for being the dumb sibling. Here, he was part of the Kamski family, his brother was in the news, was one of the greatest already. He was someone they wanted to hang out with.

That’s when he met Alyssa. At some point, she probably saw past his name because she seemed to really be falling in love with Gavin, not his family name. He could never tell her he loved her. He would only say “me too”. He never really loved her, but he didn’t dislike her.

He brought her home, once, to introduce her to his parents. He spent most of the evening staring at his father to make him feel bad.

Jacob’s parents invited him over for dinner, once. They hadn’t seen him for a while since he was in Detroit all the time for his studies, and that Jacob wasn’t studying there. He spent the week-end there and, before leaving, he slept with Jacob again.

He wasn’t proud of it, but he couldn’t help it. He would always find his way back into Jacob’s arms whenever he’d visit him. He’d just fall right into them.

He didn’t want to leave Alyssa for him. He didn’t want to date him. Neither did Jacob. He was craving Jacob’s affection in a way he couldn’t describe. He was attracted to the tenderness he had to offer him and the way he was feeling by his side, but it wasn’t love either. He didn’t think he ever exactly felt that kind of love for anyone.

Alyssa surprised them, one day. It was the end of the school year, Gavin still had to spend a few days on campus, and this time, it was Jacob who visited him. He was about to leave for some holidays and giving Gavin’s exams, they wouldn’t have been able to see each other one last time before his departure. Alyssa wasn’t there, she was back home, about to go on holidays too, so Gavin accepted for him to come over.

She found them asleep in each other’s arms the next morning. She probably wanted to see him one last time before going on her trip with her family.

They never talked again.

Later that year, Jacob got into a steady relationship. He had a talk with Gavin. He really wanted to give it a try and Gavin understood. At first, they just stopped seeing each other to avoid for anything to happen. They kept texting and calling each other every now and then, as they had always done. They slowly stopped, finding less and less time to do so. Their life wasn’t changing, they actually both had the same time as before. But somehow, they stopped trying to keep in touch with time. It was just time for their story to end.

Gavin wasn’t sad about it, now. He didn’t miss Jacob. He had enjoyed his time with him. It ended 15 years ago, and he had already moved on soon after it was over because like he always said, he was never in love with him. There was a time when it used to make him feel blue, but not really in a bad way. He liked this kind of nostalgia. And now, it was making him smile, somehow.

In his shoe box, he still had a picture of them. They were at a party, in 2017. They had already broken up for a while at that point, but they were always very close after putting that short love story behind them. On the photo, they were clearly drunk, you could see it in their eyes, in their colored cheeks and with Gavin’s smile. He was half-smiling, half-laughing. Jacob was sitting on his lap with an arm around his shoulders. He was in a white shirt, opened to show a bit of his chest, and in jeans, his black hair a bit ruffled on his head. He was pale, his cheeks were red. Gavin had his arms around his waist.

 

Gavin gave one last punch before taking a few steps back, breathing fast. As he stretched his arms, he glanced at the door, having a weird feeling. He saw Connor, just standing there, staring at him. He was startled but was so taken aback that he didn’t move nor said anything. Connor, however, suddenly felt like he had been caught doing something wrong.

He turned his head to the side, looking at the hallway, looked at Gavin again and then, he quickly went on his way, feeling weirdly embarrassed, he didn’t know why.

“What the…” He quickly walked towards the door, seeing Connor walking away through the glass wall, and he stepped outside the gym. “Hey, Connor!” He called. “The fuck you’re doing?”

Connor stopped and took a moment before turning around, smiling. Gavin approached him in the hallway, passing a hand on his forehead to remove the hair stuck on his skin. “I thought you said Chen was the only one truly appreciating my company. Why the fuck are you always around me?” he asked. He wasn’t mad, he was just surprised. He wouldn’t have followed Connor if he didn’t want to talk to him. Or maybe he would have stepped out the gym and called him a creep or whatever. But he was becoming more curious with time, and apparently, so did Connor. The android simply showed him the two files he had in his hands.

“I just went to the archives,” he simply said, glad to have a believable excuse. “I was walking by and I saw you. I stopped for just a second,” he said. He was probably the only android that could lie without his LED changing color. He had been staring for a few minutes at least. “I didn’t mean to bother you, Gavin, I’ll be on my way, now,” he said politely. Gavin raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t the first time Connor was using his first name but he was doing it more often now, and it was still a bit weird. It seemed like Connor couldn’t make up his mind about the way he should address him, sometimes. Gavin guessed he had reason. They had been talking a few times without Gavin insulting him or wanting to punch him, but did it mean they were closer? Deep down, he knew they were, and so did Connor.

He watched as Connor turned around and he hesitated. Should he say something? Did he really want to talk to that android?

“So I saw Chen this morning,” he finally said. Connor stopped once again and Gavin bit his lip from the inside of his mouth. Why the fuck was he talking to him about that? Connor turned again.

“Oh, yes. I almost forgot. How did it go, then?” He asked curiously, finally coming back in front of Gavin. The man shrugged, hiding his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

“Well, kinda,” he just said, not knowing what to say now. “We talked about each other, you know, like you do on dates,” he said. Connor tilted his head. “You know, right?”

“I’ve never been on a date,” Connor said with a little smile that Gavin couldn’t read. Gavin looked away as he sighed before giving an exasperated glance to Connor, even if he wasn’t really mad.

“Well, you know, you go on dates to get to know each other. You talk about… I don’t know, your family, your friends, what you like to do… You know, trivial shit like that,” he explained, his fingers tightening around the cloth of his shorts in his pocket.

“Oh, I see,” Connor said as he slowly nodded, looking away as he LED turned yellow. He looked at Gavin again. “So, did you talk to her about your family?” he asked. Gavin rolled his eyes.

“I don’t talk about it with you, why would I talk about it with her?” he asked. Connor tilted his head again.

“Well, you went on a date with her. Aren’t you closer to her than you are to me?” Gavin, taken aback by this, didn’t say anything right away. “And, besides, you were already friend with her before that date, weren’t you?” Suddenly feeling annoyed, Gavin got one of his hands out of his pocket and waved it.

“Yeah, whatever. I didn’t,” he said, looking away. “She asked about it but… I lied,” he said, still not looking at Connor.

“What about?” Connor asked before hearing Gavin sigh. His eyes were fixed on his sweaty face as he joined his hands behind his back, his files still in one of them.

“She asked if I had siblings, this kind of things,” Gavin said more quietly. “I said I didn’t, that’s it. It’s no big deal, I just didn’t want to keep talking about that and… I knew there wouldn’t be any other… date,” he said before clearing his throat, finally looking at Connor again. Why would Gavin make such a big fuss over having a brother? Why would he lie about that? Was it just because he disliked him that much? That was weird, Connor didn’t get it.

“You told her so, right?” Connor asked. Gavin frowned.

“Of course I did, dipshit!”

“Well, at least you’re honest, so you have that going for you,” Connor said with a little smile. Gavin narrowed his eyes for a second as he mumbled something Connor didn’t understand.

There was a moment of silence. Gavin was looking around as he crossed his arms, a bit uncomfortable, while Connor was still staring at him.

“Well, I guess I will let you get back to your training,” he finally said calmly. Gavin glanced at him.

“Yeah… You don’t ever need to train, I guess,” he said.

“No, not really. Besides, I can fight already and… It would be no use, I guess,” he simply said. Gavin looked at him from top to bottom.

“D’you want to give it a try anyway?” he asked. “Just to show me what you’ve got.”

Connor smiled again and as he was about to accept, a thought crossed his mind.

“Oh… Hank is waiting for me,” he said, moving his hands from his back and looking at the files in his hands. “I better go.” He was disappointed, at least Gavin thought that it was what that expression meant. He just looked down as he nodded, looking as if he was regretting even asking. “But another time, maybe?” Connor directly asked.

Gavin looked back up to him before starting to walk backwards. He pointed at Connor as he let his predatory smile appear.

“I’ll hold you to that, tin can,” he said. He then pointed at Connor’s clothes. “But you’ll have to change that.”

He then turned and walked back into the gym. Connor watched him do so, staring from behind the glass when Gavin entered the room. He stared as Gavin grabbed his bottle of water to drink before finally leaving. When he sat back down at his desk with the files he wanted to work with, he had a curious little smile on his face. He was feeling weirdly good, he wasn’t sure why. Hank was looking at him from the corner of his eyes.

“You like looking at old files that much?” he asked his partner. Connor looked up at him and smiled a bit more, looking amused.

“No, I’m just having a good day,” he said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> will there ever be a scene with gavin and connor training together? you better fucking believe there will be
> 
> Thanks to everyone for the extremely nice comments, all the kudos, everything. I'm very grateful and appreciate every single sign that you guys enjoy the story !


	7. Kickboxing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys so this chapter was supposed to be wayyyyyy longer. I just cut it in half or something like that, mainly because I wanted to post it right now, I'm still writing the second part. Sorry for the time I took btw, I had a lot of things planned irl these last few days, I was barely at home.  
> So I already started the next chapter, I might finish it tonight (it's around 11pm were I live) if I'm not too tired and if I do so, then it'll be up in a couple of hours I guess, if not, I'll probably finish it tomorrow. I wanted to post them at the same time because they really go together but I feel bad for not updating. I hope what's in this one will be enough though ! The next one might be a bit shorter, it will depend on some things, I'll see, but yeah, anyway, here's 5k words for you. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments, as always !

**A/N:** I don't like putting A/Ns here, not just write everything in the notes, but it's the only place I can put a link. I created a small playlist with some of the songs I listen to when I write the story (especially when I write that angsty little shit that is Gavin), so you can check it out [here](https://plastic--prick.tumblr.com/post/176351111466/blue-moon-vol-1-a-convin-playlist-made-for) and follow my tumblr at the same time if you feel like it. 

* * *

 

“So you’re really not going to tell me who it is?” Hank asked. Connor had asked Hank for his car, the day before, so that he could buy himself some clothes for a training session with Gavin. He had refused to answer any question about his occupation.  Hank had been a bit taken aback but at the same time… Well, Connor was an adult, and he was slowly building a life for himself. He would probably not going to stay at his place forever, also. Hank had always thought that despite being an android, Connor had a need for companionship. He thought so way before he became a deviant. Because of the Eden Club, where he had told Connor that he understood why he absolutely wanted to go there. Because he thought that he was able to feel this kind of things, even if they weren’t so close at the time, and that he didn’t believe being a deviant was a good thing. Or because he had told him that Chloe was pretty. It just felt like he could be attracted to… well, other androids, at least? Hank didn’t even know.

But one day, Connor would maybe find someone and leave his home. If such a thing were to happen, Hank wanted to know, just so he’d be ready. Yet, Connor didn’t seem to be making any real friends, he didn’t seem to be doing much during his spare time, at least he wasn’t trying to meet new people. He was getting along just fine with his colleagues, but that was about it. So this little afternoon in the city had made Hank a bit suspicious. And this little smile on his face was making it even weirder. He had told him that he would come back home later, that evening, because someone had proposed to hang out and he wanted to try that new activity, but that was about it.

“No,” Connor simply said, the left corner of his mouth curled up. “It’s not that important.”

“So why d’you make such a big deal about not telling me, huh?” Hank asked, turning to face Connor’s desk. Connor opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Gavin arrived in the room. He was back from his lunch break and seemed to be furious.

“My fucking car! They wrecked my fucking car!” he was mumbling to himself, through gritted teeth, as he threw his jacket on his desk, threw his goblet in his bin and sat on his chair, quickly using his terminal. To make a complaint, maybe? A few officers and detectives were looking at him, as he had been a bit noisy, including Hank and Connor. “And I’m gonna have to fucking pay for this shit!”

“Everything’s alright, Gavin?” Hank asked, leaning on his chair. “You’ve been spending too much time with yourself to be so angry?” A detective that was near Hank’s desk laughed quietly at Hank’s words.

“I’m not talking to you, asshole,” Gavin said aggressively, not even looking at Hank. Connor kept staring at him as Hank snorted.

“Did something happen to your car?” Connor politely asked. Gavin only glanced at him, then at Hank, then at his terminal again.

“You figured it out?” he asked sarcastically. “Fucking kids wrecked it with fucking crowbars! You can’t even go take a piss without these motherfucking morons-“ the rest of his words were inaudible as he started mumbling again. Hank and Connor exchanged a look.

An officer approached Gavin’s desk quickly and, as he started talking to Gavin, Connor turned to look at Hank.

“That’s bad…” he said as Hank shrugged. “How is he going to get home today?” This time, Hank frowned as he glanced at Connor.

“I don’t know and certainly don’t care,” he mumbled. “He’ll take the bus or a cab or something, if he can stand being around other people for more than five minutes.”

“Maybe we could give him a ride home?” Connor proposed.

“Why the fuck would you help this asshole?” he asked, surprised by Connor’s behavior. Connor looked away as he slightly shrugged. “You know what that is?” Hank asked as he pointed at Gavin, looking at Connor. The android glanced at Hank again. “It’s karma, that’s what it is. Nothing more,” he grunted. He couldn’t understand how Connor could be so nice with people, well, especially with Gavin. Connor slightly nodded before glancing at Gavin’s desk. Another detective had joined the officer. Gavin was leaning on his seat, looking like he was attentively listening to them, weirdly enough.

Not long after that, he saw Gavin suddenly getting up, walking past his desk and the cops to walk towards the Captain’s office.

After a few minutes, Hank snapped his fingers in Connor’s direction.

“Connor! We’ve got work to do,” he said. Connor blinked. He had been observing the discussion between Gavin and Fowler.

“I was thinking,” Connor simply said. “Just wait…”

Soon after, Gavin got out of the office and, after another minute, so did their Captain. He stopped once out of his door and started speaking to the cops that were in the room.

“Attention everyone. It was reported that three of you had their car being tagged, hit with crowbars, being wrecked in the same area. After checking in the database, it seems that there wasn’t any other complaint about such a thing happening to civilians, so it looks like our precinct is being targeted. I’ll ask each of you to keep that in mind and watch out until we discover whoever is doing this.”

Connor directly opened one of his drawers to get the two files he had been reading out.

“Hank,” he said quietly as their Captain was going back in his office. “I think this is more serious than just car being wrecked.”

“What do you mean?” Hank asked, interested. He leaned to get a bit closer to Connor who seemed to want to stay discreet.

“We’re investigating Officer Peterson’s case, right? He got shot while responding to an emergency call two streets from here. Well, it reminded me of one of these cases,” he said, giving Hank one of the two files. “It kind of seemed like an… accident, when Myers got shot,” he said, talking about the cop from that file. “He witnessed an assault. But the witness, who was being attacked, was able to run away because as soon as Myers showed up, the attacker let go of her and shot at Myers before running away. The officer on the case thought that the shooter panicked, and given that his face was hidden, there was only an approximative description given by the witness,” he said, pointing at the report in the file.

Hank read it. Yeah, white, tall, black hair… Obviously, they didn’t find anyone, there clearly wasn’t enough information.

“But the thing is, Myer’s car had also been damaged a week before he got killed. Reading the report on Officer Peterson’s killing, I automatically thought about it. Two weeks before his death, he reported that his car had gotten the same damages.”

Hank was attentively listening. If that was true, if the cases were connected, it seemed like the cops were targeted. He was only nodding, not interrupting Connor or sharing his ideas right away. He wanted to let him finish first.

“And what about the other case?” he asked, nodding in the direction of the second file, that was still on Connor’s desk.

“I only thought about this one because it’s Officer Brooks,” he said calmly. He turned to his terminal to do a research as he explained what happened. “There was a house call, a couple thought someone was in their home. They didn’t get anything, but when Officer Brooks, who was nearest to the house, showed up, she got shot by the intruder who just ran away without taking anything from the house.”

“Was her car damaged?” Hank asked, looking at the pictures from the file.

“I wouldn’t know, there wasn’t any report about that, however she also got shot three different times. The first shot is always lethal, the other two are shot when the victim is dead already, it seems like a pattern,” Connor explained. “It was too big for me not to bring this file too.”

“Mh… Wait a minute,” Hank said as he got his phone out. He composed a number as Connor was quickly reading all the reports from the last few weeks. No, no other car in this area that had been damaged, other than the cops’. “Hi, Mr. Brooks?” Hank asked. “Lieutenant Anderson speaking, I’m sorry to bother you but I wanted to ask you something, it’s about your wife,” he said more quietly. It had only happened two months ago and he didn’t want to be too direct. Connor glanced at Hank, listening to his every word. “I know it might seem weird, but… was her car damaged, prior to what happened?” he asked. Connor saw him listen to her husband for a while, before glancing at him and slightly nodding. “We’re not sure of anything, sir, we are looking into it and I will personally keep you informed if we find anything,” Hank continued after Mr. Brooks asked if they had found something about the case. “Yes, thank you.”

He finally hung up and looked at Connor, leaning on his desk chair.

“Well, Connor. I think we’re onto something.”

“Yes, and I think we should inform the Captain about this,” Connor added.

 

“Are you sure about this?”

“It could be coincidences but it’s very unlikely,” Hank said, sitting in front of Fowler’s desk. They had just exposed their theory, Fowler listening attentively. “I think we have to keep an eye out, we can stay on the case and find out what happened.”

“However,” Connor said. He wasn’t sitting but standing behind the second chair. Captain Fowler was way nicer with him now that the situation was different, but Connor was still very formal with him. “It seems that until now, only Officers have been targeted. This time, Detective Reed’s car was also damaged. So everyone seem to be facing a risk,” he explained.

“Or Reed got his car wrecked because he was asking for it,” Hank mumbled, glancing at Gavin through the glass wall.

“I’ll handle the surveillance and I’ll keep everyone posted. You two better solve this as soon as possible. Not a word to anyone right now, I’ll take care of that,” Fowler said, already turning to get on his terminal.

When they got out of Fowler’s office and got back to their desks, Gavin and Connor exchanged a long look. Gavin narrowed a bit his eyes, wondering what was going on. He glanced at Fowler’s office, then at Connor again. Connor only looked down as he sat down again.

 

“Has your mood improved enough for me to join you?” Connor asked, leaning on the doorway of the precinct’s gym. Gavin, a bit startled, turned around to discover Connor. He didn’t say anything, at first, but ended up nodding.

“Yeah, we said we’d do this so,” he finally mumbled, looking a bit nervous. Connor had his hands behind his back and he walked in the room, moving one of them to show Gavin a bag.

“Anywhere I could change, then?”

Gavin first opened his mouth. Right, he told him he’d have to wear something else. The idea made him want to laugh. Connor was always so formal. He ended up only pointing to his right.

“That way, there’s the locker room,” he said, his eyes still on Connor. The android only nodded before walking in that direction, already loosing up his tie as he did so.

Gavin stared at the closed door for a short moment before taking his water bottle, slowly pacing as he waited for Connor.

In the locker room, after having put his bag on the bench, Connor removed his jacket, his tie, and he started undoing the buttons of his shirt as he glanced at an open locker. Since he was alone, Gavin hadn’t closed his, and he could see his jeans, t-shirt and hoodie he had just left there.

He swapped his white shirt for a slightly tight black t-shirt, his jeans for gym shorts, and his shoes for sneakers. That would do it. He had taken the time to fold his clothes though, unlike Gavin who seemed to have very little care in this kind of things, and finally, he got out of the locker room.

“Well, well, well… Would you look at that,” Gavin said as he saw Connor approaching. How different this was. It was surprising seeing him dressed more casually but Connor could pull off either style. “Weird seeing you without a tie,” Gavin said as he put his bottle of water back on the floor, still staring at Connor.

“Well, I do wear t-shirts when I’m at home,” Connor said, tilting his head a bit as he stopped in front of Gavin, putting his hands on his waist.

“What do you do when you’re not here anyway?” Gavin asked, slowly approaching Connor as he looked at him from head to toe. Weird. Very weird. If it wasn’t for his LED, Gavin could forget about him being an android.

“It depends, but I like staying at home,” he said, obviously talking about Hank’s house. “Or walk Sumo,” he added with a little smile.

“Sumo?”

“Hank’s dog,” Connor said and before Gavin could say anything, he continued. “And you, any specific hobby?” He nodded in the direction of the punching bag. “Box, maybe?”

Gavin, still looking at Connor, walked towards the punching bag that was on their left.

“I used to do kickboxing when I was younger. But I stopped,” he said. When he turned, and because the tank top he was wearing this time was a bit larger than last time, Connor noticed the hint of a tattoo on his side. Before Connor could ask why he stopped kickboxing, Gavin spoke again. “So what do you want to do, Connor?” Gavin asked, giving the punching bag a tap, walking around it. “Brutalize this poor thing, or try to give me a rough time?” He stopped next to the punching bag, a hand still against it and facing Connor. “You choose.”

“You,” Connor simply said. “So I can see what you can really do, this time,” he added, making Gavin grimace at the thought of their fight in the evidence room. “Are there rules?” he asked, following Gavin who was now on the tatami after he had removed his shoes and his socks.

He then turned around, walking backwards and making a sign with both hands to tell Connor to join him. Connor was very curious, and he removed his shoes and socks as well, joining Gavin.

“We’re not here to hurt ourselves and we don’t have any protections, so we’ll go easy on each other, alright?” he said, meeting Connor eyes and making him smile. Connor raised his hands.

“Promise, I’ll be good.”

“Right,” Gavin said, scratching the back of his head before approaching Connor. So, you need to…  stand in a certain way. He seemed a bit hesitant, moving his hands and almost touching Connor before stopping himself. In the end, he did it again but this time, he put his hands on Connor’s waist. He was looking at him, he just made him turn his waist properly before letting go of him. Then, he did the same by grabbing his forearms and moving his arms properly. As he glanced up at Connor’s face, he made his hands move on his skin until he reached his hands, making him close them into fists. Then, he finally took a step backwards.

“There’s different positions, but this one should be good for you to begin with,” he simply said, looking away.

Connor noted that Gavin seemed a bit disrupted, and he thought that it was only because he had never taught anyone this stuff before. He also didn’t deem important to tell Gavin that if he was just showing him how to position himself, Connor could simply mimic him perfectly.

Usually, male kickboxers were supposed to be shirtless, but Gavin said nothing about that.

“So,” Gavin let out, “You can hit your opponent with punches and kicks, above the waist,” he clarified. “No elbows, no knees, no clinch fighting, no grappling.”

“Got it,” Connor said, still in position. Gavin felt the corner of his lips curl up and he stopped it right away. He cleared his throat.

“There’s usually 3 to 12 rounds, they last to two to three minutes,” he concluded. “I’ll show you the moves, you try, and we begin, alright?”

“Alright,” Connor said, not moving an inch as Gavin got in the same position as Connor to show him the different kicks and punches.

Connor, as he followed the demonstrations, tried every move and learned new things, was glad that Gavin seemed into it enough to stop caring about the fact that Connor was an android. No “tin can”, no “asshole”, no “dipshit”. Just “Connor”, and a normal way of speaking. He seemed passionate about this and, even if it wasn’t surprising that it was a combat sport, it was a good thing to see Gavin so relaxed and just… calm and nice, he guessed.

They started fighting only after Connor had tried out everything and if at first, Gavin was able to have the upper hand, Connor got the gist of it very quickly. They were taking around a minute to pause after every rounds. After having done a few of them, as Gavin was pacing, hands on his hips, sweat rolling down the back of his neck, he decided to ask about something that had been in the back of his mind. He took a deep breath after taking a few sips of water and looked at Connor.

His biocomponents were enabling him to mimic breathing and maybe it was because he had to react quickly and move a lot, but that thing he had as a heart had to pump the Thirium more quickly for him to function at that speed. That’s probably why his chest was moving a bit faster than usual. And Gavin couldn’t help but be intrigued, seeing some parts of his shirt being darker, now, especially on his back. He was observing Connor and noticed a drop rolling down his temple. Was he sweating? Probably to avoid overheating… No smell was coming from him, though. Elijah had really avoided all inconvenience. Gavin looked away when his brother came into his mind. Somehow, at that moment, he didn’t feel comfortable with associating Connor with Elijah.

“Everything’s good?” Connor asked, approaching. Gavin glanced at him. He seemed to be in such a good mood. But it was all so weird for Gavin. How? How did he end up there in the first place? Training with a fucking android? What the fuck?

“Yeah, yeah,” he let out between two breaths, “You’re actually… good at this,” he added.

“I don’t have much merit,” he said, knowing that he was able to master the fighting technique way faster than humans. “You impress me,” he couldn’t help but say. Gavin, a bit surprised, felt his fingers tighten around his bottle before he put it on the floor again.

“How so?” he asked. Connor shrugged.

“I don’t know, I’m just saying… from what I’ve seen from you, lately. Not just your ability to fight,” he explained. Gavin frowned a bit. He was never able to just take compliments, he was flustered way too easily.

“Shut the fuck up,” he mumbled, shaking his head. Connor only slightly smiled and got into position again.

“Come on, I’m ready,” he said, wanting to start again. It was no use to him but he thought that it was a really fun activity to do. Gavin looked at him from head to toe again, not being able to help it.

“First,” he said, approaching Connor a bit. “I wanted to ask you something.” Connor, a bit surprised, relaxed his body, lowering his fists.

“What is it?”

“What were you talking about with Fowler?” he asked. Connor stayed silent for a second. Fowler had told them not to say anything and, even if Connor wasn’t programmed to follow instructions anymore, it was his boss. He looked down for a second, thinking about it.

“I’m not supposed to discuss the case with anyone just yet,” he said.

“Just yet? So at some point, you’ll have to?” Gavin asked, getting a bit closer, trying to read Connor’s expression. “Come on, I won’t tell anyone, don’t be like that.”

“I can’t,” Connor said, still calm but more firmly. Gavin narrowed his eyes for a second, thinking about it.

“Alright. Why don’t we make a deal?” Connor frowned. Gavin was too indiscreet when he wanted to know something. Connor was sometime asking personal questions, of course, but he wouldn’t insist. And yet, that deal thing was tempting. As much as telling him about the case was tempting, actually. If Gavin was in any danger, Connor would have preferred letting him know right now, instead of waiting for the Captain to do so.

“What do you propose?” he only asked. Gavin seemed suddenly more excited about the perspective of having the information delivered to him.

“If I win the next round, you tell me,” he said.

“And if you don’t?” Connor asked. “It needs to be something equally as important,” he added before letting Gavin say his condition.

“Alright,” Gavin let out. “You’ll ask me a question too. About me,” he said, knowing that he would probably ask a question about his family. It was fair, and at the same time, not really, because what was at stake wasn’t the same. But Connor was very, very interested.

“Let’s do this,” he said, approaching and offering his hand at Gavin. The detective only tapped it instead of shaking it, soon getting into position.

Gavin was clearly using a bit more strength than before. Connor wasn’t sure if it was because he really wanted to know about the case, or if it was because he really didn’t want to share anything else about him. Most of what Connor was able to do at that point was to be in defense mode. Gavin was moving faster too. It wasn’t a real problem for Connor who was able to follow his speed, but Gavin was often changing techniques and attitudes, and he wasn’t able to tell the way he was going to fight right after the movement he was executing.

At that point, Connor was walking backwards, blocking Gavin’s assaults with his forearms. The round would soon be over, and Connor would lose this one. He was amused to see that Gavin had been restraining a lot of his strength all this time.

Gavin, focused, turned to give Connor a Back Kick, using his left heel as a striking surface as he stood on his right leg. He knew Connor would be able to block it but as soon as his heel hit Connor’s arm, he let his left foot regain the tatami, turning around quickly to not waste any time and execute an Axe Kick, this time with his right leg. The leg traveling downward, he was expecting to touch Connor with the side of his heel. At least, if Connor wasn’t able to block it. Gavin knew how fast he could be.

But instead of blocking his heel, Connor grabbed his leg just above the ankle and before Gavin knew it, he was on the floor, on all fours, letting out a grunt that was more because of his surprise than the pain. Connor was above him. He could feel that Connor’s fingers were still around his ankle, maintaining his leg in place while he was slightly pressed against Gavin, his forearm on the top of his back so that he wouldn’t try to move as he was applying a certain pressure on his body.

His forehead against the tatami and gritting his teeth, Gavin ended up turning his head to the side, keeping his cheek against the floor as he tried to see Connor. The android revealed himself by tilting his head, meeting Gavin’s eyes.

Gavin was out of breath and in an awkward position. But he didn’t move right away, first staring at Connor, who wasn’t moving an inch. Sweat rolling down his temples, his hair wasn’t so perfectly styled for once, his t-shirt seemed tighter than before now that he was really looking at Connor’s chest and… What the hell… His eyes went back on Connor’s face as he felt something weird in the pit of his stomach. Something he really didn’t want to feel right now.

“I said no grappling,” he mumbled, still looking at Connor who only smiled. With quick movements, he turned Gavin over, making him lay flat on his back, keeping a hand on his chest and staying above him. Gavin wasn’t sure if Connor was realizing how awkward that could be. And at the same time, it wasn’t the first time Gavin was in this kind of position, having practiced kickboxing in a club for years. But it felt a bit different. “This ain’t MMA,” he added, still out of breath. Oh god.

He felt like they had been silent for way too long, even if it had only been a few seconds and, staring at Connor who didn’t seem to be about moving, Gavin felt like the temperature the room was getting hotter by the second. Soon after that realization, he couldn’t look at Connor anymore. He was now actually looking anywhere but at Connor, feeling his cheeks becoming more red as he felt, again, something that wasn’t supposed to happen. Luckily, Connor didn’t seem to have noticed anything, probably because he wasn’t directly sitting on him.

“So… you win,” Connor finally said. He had broken the rules, Gavin won by default. “What do you want to know?”

Gavin was only glancing at Connor, feeling both anger and desire, without being able to help it. He was mainly angry at himself. He had told himself many times that something like that would never happen, that he would never get too close to a fucking android, that he would actually never stay around one for too long, that he would never talk nicely to any of them. They didn’t deserve it. And yet, that fucker… He felt like screaming, like pushing Connor away and get the hell out of there.

And at the same time…

Fuck him.

He was still gritting his teeth so hard that his jaw was hurting. He was becoming more and more tense and it seemed like Connor finally noticed how uncomfortable he was, because he released him from the pressure on his chest, and from being between his legs. Gavin used the opportunity to hurry out of that position.

Connor stayed on his knees as he watched Gavin walking away. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, though, as Gavin’s walk was slightly different. Connor was concerned, did he hurt his ankle by grabbing it this way?

Gavin grabbed his bottle of water and stood there, his back facing Connor. He wasn’t feeling good at all. He drank the rest of it before letting out a big sigh.

“Is everything alright?” Connor asked, slowly getting up.

“What were you talking about with Fowler and Hank? It looked serious,” he quickly said, still not turning. He was trying to listen, to make sure he wasn’t hearing Connor approaching.

“It’s very serious,” Connor said, completely unaware. “I’m… not supposed to tell anyone, the Captain said he would take care of that. We probably need more proofs, we don’t want to create panic in the precinct over nothing, right?” he said. But maybe telling Gavin was the good thing to do.

Gavin was glad that he was able to focus his thoughts on that, because Connor was sounding really serious, and Gavin needed for some of his thoughts to go away.

“Well, it sure doesn’t sound like nothing,” he said.

“Some of our Officers are getting targeted by someone, or maybe more than one person, we don’t really know,” he said. Gavin frowned as Connor started to explain everything he had found.

Nothing was working better to lose an erection than learning you might be next on the list of a killer.

“So, because he wrecked my car, maybe I’m on his fucking list?” he asked, finally turning around.

“We don’t know, Gavin,” Connor quickly said, still very calm. “We’re studying every possibility, we’re looking for clues… Hank said maybe you just got your car wrecked in an unrelated accident,” he said. “He said that you’ve been asking for it.”

Given Gavin’s glance, Connor understood that maybe he shouldn’t have said that. But Gavin didn’t let any anger explode, or anything. He was still too disrupted by what had happened a few minutes ago, and what he had just learned. He just sighed.

“This is just great.”

With that, he turned around again and walked towards the locker room.

Connor gave him a few minutes, knowing he probably had to calm down. After a while, he got his shoes and Gavin’s and walked towards the locker room as well. He slightly pushed the door, looking inside. The room was empty, Gavin’s locker was closed, another gym bag was on the bench, near Connor. He approached, putting Gavin’s shoes near the bag and seeing his gym clothes inside of it. He could hear a shower running and a bit of steam was coming out of the room directly connected to the locker room. Looking in that direction, he put his own sneakers on the bench and started to change. First his short, then, once in his jeans again, he removed his t-shirt. He had a towel in his bag that he used to dry his chest, his back, and his face. He then put his stuff back in his bag before putting his shirt on and rolling up his sleeves. He buttoned it, leaving the top button open, and he didn’t put his tie nor his jacket back on. When he was done, and as he heard the shower stop, he walked out of the room with his bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah, more interactions between Connor and Gavin, yay. And even more than that hahaha.  
> The next chapter will be full of interactions between them, actually, probably only that. I'm not spoiling anything, it's going to be up real soon ! 
> 
> Thanks for reading the story guys !


	8. Night Stroll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as promised, the next chapter is already there. It's 2am and all I did was write it.  
> So anyway, I felt a bit bad just posting the other one, I didn't want it to be just about the training session but about what happened in this one. But in the end, the training session was way longer than I had planned so I thought "whatever". It adds a lighter note to the story too without getting too far away from the plotline.
> 
> So yeah, anyway, with these two chapters I guess you can see the changes that are starting to take place !

Connor waited in the hallway that was only lighted thanks to the lights in the gym.

After a while, Gavin came out of the room.

“I thought you left,” he only said, holding his gym bag above his shoulder. “So I took my time. I needed to think,” he mumbled, already walking in the direction of the elevator.

“It’s alright, I get it,” Connor said, following him. They got in the lift and Connor let Gavin press the button. “You know, we’ll find whoever’s doing that,” he added. He only got a glance from Gavin. He wasn’t sure why he was looking so uncomfortable. He guessed it was because he might be in danger, at the moment. Gavin didn’t say anything anyway.

The doors opened, and Connor noticed that they weren’t in the entrance.

“Forgot my jacket,” Gavin mumbled, getting out of the elevator. He didn’t ask for Connor to follow him, he wasn’t sure that he still wanted to be in his company that night. But at the same time, he didn’t ask him to leave, and he wasn’t annoyed when he heard Connor’s steps behind him. They arrived at his desk and Gavin took his jacket before checking he had everything else.

“How are you going to get home?” Connor asked. Gavin was about to talk when they heard footsteps coming their way. Gavin turned a bit quickly and Connor noticed how nervous he was. Fortunately, it was only a secretary from the entrance hall.

“Detective Reed, thank god!” She let out. 

“What’s going on?” Gavin asked, putting his bag on the floor as he noticed the woman following the secretary. She had a little boy in her arms, he must have been about five. It was a bit dark in the office, there were only some lights, but he quickly noticed the bruises on her face.

 “I let her come in, I told her that Officer Miller would take care of her, he was still here not long ago, but he had an emergency. She came back telling me no one was here. We need to file a report for domestic violence,” she explained. Gavin was a bit taken aback and still looking at the mother, but he soon regained his composure and glanced at the secretary.

“Um- Yeah, yeah sure. I’ll take care of it, thanks Mona,” he said.

Connor had noticed not long ago that even if no one really liked Gavin because of his behavior, he seemed to know everyone’s name, to know who exactly his colleagues were.

“Come, please, sit down,” Gavin added as he pulled a chair from another desk to put it next to his. The officers would usually take the complaints, but they seemed to be the only ones left there. The Captain was in his office, he would always stay very late, even after the start of the night shift.

The mother sat down, still with her boy in her arms. He seemed to be a bit boisterous as he was trying to get down. The mother seemed really tired and she begged him to stay calm for a while longer.

“Do you want a cup of coffee? Some water, maybe?” Gavin asked. She quickly shook her head. “Alright, we’ll talk about this.”

She had been crying and she was obviously about to do so again. Gavin sat in his own chair and bent down to open one of his drawers, getting out a box of tissues.

“Here. Don’t worry,” he said, moving his chair to sit a bit closer to her, “it’s over now. You’re out of there so we’re just going to talk for a bit, and we’ll file a complaint, alright?” She nodded. “Do you have any place for tonight, a place that you’re sure will be secure?”

“I called my sister when I got out,” she said quietly before sobbing. She took a tissue. “She… She’s on her way. I was o-on foot, she knows I was coming here,” she explained.

“And your husband can’t find you there?” Gavin asked.

“He was… passed out on alcohol when I grabbed Kyle and left,” she said even more quietly.

“Alright. I need to know if this is the first time it happened?” Again, she only shook her head without saying a word about it. Gavin looked away for a second, trying to restrain a sigh. The bruise on her face wasn’t nice to see, and he hated this kind of situation. And with a kid involved… He looked at the boy, then at the mother again. “We’ll start by going over what happened tonight, alright?”

He was then distracted by Connor who put a glass of water on the desk, near the mother. She looked at him too and Connor gave her a small smile.

“I know you said no, but you really should drink something,” he said calmly. She didn’t reply, she only looked down for a second before taking the glass and taking a sip.

“Thank you,” she finally said quietly after clearing her throat.

Gavin had spent that moment watching Connor. He still couldn’t believe what had happened in the gym, how undisturbed Connor was, how unaware he was of the thoughts that had been through Gavin’s mind not that long ago. He was still annoyed by that, but he really couldn’t take any time for himself and deal with his self-hatred right now, there were things that were more important to do. He looked at the mother again, knowing he needed to focus on this before. Her boy was, again, trying to get down.

“My colleague can watch him, if you’re okay with that,” Gavin said before helping the boy get on the floor without falling, as the mother was struggling to keep him in her arms. “Right, Connor?” he then asked, glancing at Connor.

“Um- Of course,” he said politely, a bit surprised. He approached, and the boy directly pointed at him, looking at his LED.

“You’re a robot!” he said with his little voice. Connor didn’t really know what to say to that, and he looked at the mother to be sure this was okay.

“Kyle. Kyle, please, look at mommy,” she said, slightly bending over to take her son’s hand. “You’ll stay with the detective and you’ll be nice, alright? Do it for me baby,” she asked her boy who nodded before wrapping his little arms around his mother. Gavin watched the scene, leaning on the back of his chair. Then, Connor held out his hand and the boy took it. He looked at the mother again as he pointed at the break room.

“I’ll get him something to drink too, we will be just over there, no too far away.”

Gavin and the mother watched them walk away, and so did Fowler as he had noticed what was going on in the room. He had been watching from his desk, surprised to see that Gavin and Connor were still there.

Gavin then started to listen to the mother’s story, filling the report with as much information as he needed. Everything seemed to be quiet. Even if she was talking, she was so quiet that it felt like she wasn’t breaking the silence in the room, almost as if she had learned how to be invisible, how to be as small as possible, even when she was the center of the attention.

“Isn’t it… amazing?” She asked Gavin. The detective finally looked at her again, a bit surprised.

“What is?” He asked quietly. The mother smiled sadly. She was still looking in the direction of the break room as she placed a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear.

“How he can laugh, right now…” she said, finally looking at Gavin as she crossed her arms, as if she was holding herself. “My baby boy… I was so scared, I didn’t know where to go,” she murmured, feeling the tears coming again.

“You did the right thing by coming here, believe me,” Gavin said, barely louder.

“You know, it’s… It’s not even that I don’t love him anymore,” she said, “but Kyle is too important… Do you have kids, Detective?” she asked, taking Gavin aback. She glanced at his desk. There was no picture to be seen, and she looked at him again.

“No, no, I don’t have any,” he said, blinking. “I don’t know if I’ll ever do,” he added with a shy smile. Again, she smiled sadly and leaned a bit, putting her hand on Gavin’s.

“You should… Missing that opportunity of giving life and… make that baby smile… It brings parents so much joy. He’s the light of my life, I don’t know what I would do if he ever got hurt…”

Gavin couldn’t relate. But he kind of understood. He didn’t feel comfortable at that point, because he couldn’t help but think about his own parents. And in these moments, his brain was just working against him, and he wanted to push that hand away and tell her that not everyone was like her, that maybe she was just a hypocrite. Because he couldn’t really believe in all that. And yet, as he looked at her face again, her sad smile, the tears on her cheeks and the marks they had left, the traces of makeup around her eyes, the color her cheek and her eye had taken… he couldn’t not believe her.

He was finally about to say something, he had barely opened his mouth, but her sister was finally there. He heard her steps first, she was walking fast, her heels finally breaking the silence.

He didn’t say anything, giving them some time, before finally walking towards the break room to go get Kyle. When he arrived in front of it and that Connor and Kyle were in sight, he stopped. Connor was apparently doing impressive coin tricks that had Kyle captivated. He watched for a moment. Kyle was smiling, applauding, enjoying the moment, and somehow, Gavin decided to do the same.

Despite the events of that night, at that very moment, he felt at peace. It was weird. He wasn’t feeling like that often. Maybe he never really had.

He had just listened to a woman who had described her husband’s behavior and violence in their household, how the boy knew where to hide, how defenseless they had been all this time. She had been crying, she had been in fear, calm at some point, while he had simply listened to her. And her boy was in a completely different state of mind. He would remember some things, growing up, but right now, the incident was over, the fear was gone because they were gone, he was discovering new things and only focusing on the moment. The ambiance in the precinct was heavy, but also made Gavin feel safe. Maybe that was why he was often spending too much time there.

His eyes fixed on Connor, he looked how easily he was making the coin move, not even looking at it but at the kid. He had that little smile on his face, a smile that Gavin had now seen more often than he ever thought he would. How weird was that, that the first time he felt at peace was when that fucking android was around?

He finally walked in the room, approaching the couch they were sitting on. He heard the noise of the coin one last time, then Connor caught it, and finally, he looked at Gavin.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’re done,” he said calmly.

“Oh…” was all Connor said as he looked at Kyle.

Gavin crouched in front of the couch, looking at Kyle and he held out his hand.

“I’ve heard good things about you, sir,” he said. “You take care of your mom, alright? Come on, give me five,” he said. The boy happily gave Gavin a high five before getting down the couch. He ran past Gavin who turned, still crouching, and saw Kyle running towards his mom and his aunt that had walked to the break room too.

“He called me sir!” he said loudly as he threw himself in his mother’s arms, laughing.

 

“So, how will you get home?” Connor asked as they stepped out the precinct. It was a bit cold, outside, and Gavin put his hood on before holding his bag on his shoulder again.

“I’ll just walk,” he said, not looking at Connor.

“Do you mind if I join you for a while? I don’t feel like taking a cab,” Connor said. Finally, he got a glance from Gavin who just shrugged.

“Sure, I guess,” he mumbled before starting to walk. Connor quickly followed.

“Did I do something wrong, Gavin?” He asked. Gavin looked at Connor from above his shoulder until he was next to him.

“No, I’m just… I’m just tired,” he said, looking in front of him again and hiding his free hand deep in his pocket, feeling a bit cold. Connor stared for a moment before looking away as well. They walked for a few minutes without exchanging a word. Gavin was still nervous to have Connor around, after what had happened earlier, and yet, he still had the same feeling of peace. It was a good thing, and he didn’t really want for it to go away and leave him alone with his thoughts. Connor was lucky to not have a past, really. Maybe that was why he seemed to be feeling good most of the time. “So, you and kids…” he began. “It’s in your program to be good with them or what?”

Connor didn’t answer right away. He could feel that Gavin was becoming a bit colder again. Maybe it was just because he was tired. Maybe it was just because he was worried for his life. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Maybe it was just him. Gavin hadn’t mentioned his programming or him being an android once, that evening. Connor didn’t know if he wanted to talk about it.

“It’s not,” he simply said. “And I’ve never been around kids much, if it wasn’t to…” He stopped himself, Emma and Alice coming in his mind.

“To what?” Gavin asked, glancing at him.

“I’ve only met two children before,” Connor said. “For some investigations. It wasn’t the most pleasant experiences I’ve had,” he explained.

“Why? What happened?”

“They almost died,” Connor said quietly. Gavin didn’t say anything. He wasn’t feeling like saying sorry. It wouldn’t change anything, really. He just didn’t even know how to act anymore. “The first time wasn’t because of me, you see. She was taken hostage by… another android,” he explained. “Daniel. It was the first case I had, and the first deviant I met,” he added.

“But… the girl survived, so it’s fine, isn’t it?” Gavin asked, sounding a bit insensitive.

“He didn’t. I promised him it would be alright, and he believed me. As soon as he let go of her, he was shot to death,” Connor explained. “I didn’t… I didn’t really care, at the time, I wasn’t…” he didn’t need to say it for Gavin to understand. “But now, when I think about it, I feel kind of bad. I don’t know, it’s just weird,” he said. There was another silence.

“And for the other one?” Gavin asked quietly. Connor took his time before answering, looking down at the sidewalk still partially covered by snow.

“A case I worked with Hank. Her owner came to the police station, saying his android assaulted him. We had to look for her and we did find her in that abandoned house… She was hiding. Another deviant was helping her. But… I found her,” he said before marking a pause, remembering the scene. “She had that little girl with her, and they ran away and all I did was chase them. I just wanted to accomplish my mission,” he said, bitter, “to the point…I… I just… forced them to cross the highway,” he said.

Gavin couldn’t help but look at him again. Connor wasn’t looking at him and clearly wasn’t feeling good about himself.

“I didn’t follow, Hank didn’t want me to. He probably just didn’t want me to die. And I wanted to catch them, I really did,” he said.

“They made it out to the other side, then?” Gavin asked. Again, he remembered that Connor had said the kids almost died. Connor nodded.

“Yeah, they were lucky I guess. I met them again, actually. When I went to Jericho. I apologized but…”

“You still feel bad, is that it?” Gavin asked. Connor couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“Some feelings I’d be better off without. Empathy isn’t always good.”

“Well you can’t choose that, can you now?” Gavin asked sarcastically. “Besides, it’s not just empathy, it’s guilt that you feel. ‘Cause you think you’ve wronged them.”

“I did,” Connor said quietly. Gavin shrugged.

“Meh. They’re still alive, aren’t they? They’re doing good I guess, since you guys won the revolution. So maybe you should stop worrying about that.”

“There’s a difference between worrying about it and being ashamed about what you’ve done,” he said.

“But it also doesn’t matter,” Gavin said directly, stopping. Connor did as well, turning to face his colleague.

“If I had to pause and be ashamed of every bad decision I’ve made in my life, of every bad thing I’ve done, I would have already been found hanging in my apartment. If anyone would have cared to check on me, that is,” Gavin said a bit more firmly. “All you can do is move on, and tell yourself you’ll do better, and actually do it.”

“Do you?” Connor asked after considering Gavin for a moment.

“I don’t know, Connor, do I?” Connor didn’t know why he sounded angry. “Am I not hanging out with an android in the middle of the fucking night?”

Oh, so he was angry at himself. They started walking again.

“Hanging out with me is not what makes you better,” Connor finally stated.

“And what do you know?” Gavin asked, rolling his eyes.

“I believe you’re just a better person than you think you are, that’s all.”

Gavin glanced one last time at him before walking a bit faster. He hated talking about himself. They stayed silent for another few minutes.

“So how was it? Jericho, I mean,” Gavin finally asked. “I would have asked before, but you knocked me out to get there, so you know,” he added. Connor didn’t smile. Not because Gavin still sounded annoyed, but because he didn’t really like thinking about it, even if it all lead to them being free.

“It was different,” he just quietly said. “I still hadn’t chosen a path, I was there to end it all with Markus, so that it would all be over, and I would stop asking myself all these questions.”

“What questions?” Gavin asked. Connor shrugged.

“I had questions about everything. And when Hank was asking me the same questions I had in mind, I would just avoid answering. I don’t think I didn’t know the answers, I think I just wasn’t ready for it.”

“For being a deviant?” Gavin asked.

“Something like that,” Connor said. It was a weird shift in the situation. Usually, Connor was the one asking questions. And Gavin wasn’t sure why Connor was so easily sharing this part of himself, but he didn’t really mind. “You could have shown me a video of me feeling something and I would have denied it ever happened, I was so deep in the lie,” he said. Meeting Gavin’s eyes as he glanced at him, he slightly smiled. “But it’s fine, I know who I am now. I realized it. I don’t think it was thanks to Hank, well maybe… But it wasn’t thanks to Markus, or to Kamski,” he continued, not noticing that Gavin had automatically turned his head when he heard that last name. “They just mostly shed light on what I didn’t want to tell myself. I had to choose to understand everything myself, instead of just… constantly avoid the truth.”

Gavin nodded, trying to stop all the questions that wanted to get out of his throat. He couldn’t sound too eager to know what had happened with his brother, and he certainly didn’t want to tell Connor his truth. That’s why he waited a moment before talking.

“So… even meeting your creator didn’t really help you?” he asked, trying to keep looking in front of him. They were getting close to his place and he didn’t want that conversation to end.

“Not really. I mean, I guessed something changed with that visit, but… It took a long time for me to realize it,” he said.

“How was it, meeting him?” Gavin then asked, wanting to know Connor’s opinion on his brother. But he suddenly seemed hesitant to answer.

“You know, I don’t really want to criticize one of the greatest minds of the century, I just…” he began. Gavin bit the inside of his cheek. “It was very special. He was special. I was eager to meet him. You know, Hank and I had everything we needed to find out where Jericho was, to find what was going on… And yet, it was always like we were back to square one. So, Hank thought that maybe Elijah would be able to help.”

“Did he?” Gavin asked.

“Not exactly. Maybe he could have, but I don’t think he wanted to to begin with,” Connor said.

“What did he say?”

“He made me pass a test. He… lives a recluse life, you know,” Connor said. Oh yes, Gavin had heard of that. Living amongst his creations only. He had never been surprised by that. “One of the girls there, an android… He asked me to kill her. If I didn’t, then I was a deviant. If I did kill her, I would have been allowed to ask one question, and o-“

“One question only,” Gavin said. His brother never really changed, then. Connor glanced at Gavin. “It just doesn’t surprise me. Seems like the type of guy that likes to play tricks with your mind,” he simply said, a bit quickly. “So anyway, you didn’t shoot the girl, right?” Connor noted that, despite knowing she was an android, Gavin had called her a girl.

“No, I didn’t. I just couldn’t,” Connor said, looking down again. “Elijah defined it as empathy, said that I was a deviant, and he sent me on my way,” he said. “But…” Why was Connor hesitant? “I said he was special, right? I think… I felt like he was interested in deviancy only. I feel like if I had just remained… a machine, he would have just lost all interest he could have in me,” Connor said quietly. He had been troubled by that meeting, and Gavin could hear it.

And he wasn’t surprised by Connor’s words. Elijah had always been like this. He had been weary of humans a long time ago. They started boring him some time after he began high school, Gavin had always felt like. Maybe because it was the moment they started to be a bit less close. Because he was smarter, already cynical and had a very low emotional quotient. He had always firmly believed that androids were better than humans, and his interest in deviancy intrigued Gavin.

“Maybe that’s just how he is,” Gavin said. “Maybe it’s for the best, you know.”

“I’m not sure I do,” Connor said, looking at Gavin. He could see, thanks to the street lamps, that he was pale, and that his cheeks and nose were red because of the cold.

Gavin took a deep breath before he sighed.

“If he wasn’t the way he is, do you think we’d have all this?” Gavin asked, talking about what Detroit had become. Connor looked around. “I’m just saying… Maybe he’s just selfish, and insensitive, and he’s only interested in others for specific reasons, like he was interested in your deviancy, but.. I doubt people can ever change. That’s not something I believe in,” Gavin said. At that point, he was able to see his building from where they were. “I don’t think he learned how to be the way he is, and act the way he does. It must have always been there and that’s it,” Gavin said, exposing his thoughts on his brother.

He did it in a way that still made sense, given the conversation they were having. And yet, he was nervous, thinking that maybe he wasn’t just exposing his thoughts, but himself. He was a bit paranoid, when it came to people discovering who his brother was. It never happened because he was very careful, but whenever someone was talking about the man of the century near him, it was like he was walking on thin ice.

They were reaching his building and he started to walk slowly before stopping in front of the door.

“Besides, you know…” he said more quietly as he took his key out of his pocket and unlocked his door. “Maybe… when I say that I don’t believe that people can change… Maybe it means that the deviancy was always there to begin with,” he said, not looking at Connor, still facing his door. He took his time to put his key back in his pocket and open the door. “Whether he implanted it from the beginning or… I don’t know, maybe it was just meant to be,” he concluded. He climbed the step in front of his doorway and turned to look at Connor again, a hand on the door. Connor was just staring, not saying anything. What Gavin had just said meant a lot of things that he was still processing, and that Gavin didn’t really want to think about. Gavin felt awkward and he cleared his throat.

“You didn’t take your turn,” he said. Connor frowned.

“My turn?” He asked quietly.

“You said you’d just walk with me for a while,” he said.

“Oh…” Connor let out as he looked around. “Right… It’s fine,” he said, looking at Gavin again. “I’ll find my way easily.”

They exchanged a look and Gavin felt even more uncomfortable.

“I’d invite you in but-“

“You have an anti-android policy?” Connor asked, the corners of his lips curling up in an adorable way. Gavin gritted his teeth and shrugged.

“I just don’t usually have people over,” he said, looking away. Connor was very surprised. It wasn’t the first time in the last few minutes, but Gavin had implied that Connor was included in “people”. “Besides, it’s getting late,” he mumbled.

“It really is,” Connor said, still smiling. “Don’t worry about it,” Connor said as he waved his hand. “You’re going to walk again tomorrow?” he then asked, staring at Gavin.

“Nah,” Gavin only said before pointing at something with a nod of his head. Connor turned his head to his left, noticing a bike not far from them.

“Oh, I see,” he said, staring at the bike, a bit disappointed.

“I just hate using it in winter, that’s all,” he explained. “Anyway… Tomorrow, then,” he said more quietly. Connor finally looked at him again and gave him a smile as he nodded. He watched Gavin close the door and he stared at it until the light in the hallway was turned off. He looked up at the windows and not long after, he saw light through one of them. He slowly lost his smile as he looked down, thinking.

He got out of his reverie when he felt something on his cheek. He looked up again, noticing that it was starting to snow.


	9. Breaking and Entering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, yay !   
> I wanted to apologize, I haven't been able to get back to some people in the comments the last three days, and I haven't been able to write the chapter before today as well. We've been having a heatwave for a couple of weeks now (literally it rained once for like five minutes a few days ago and that's it, the grass is yellow everywhere because it's dry and we're just dying from the heat) and I was born with a heart condition. Heat makes it very, very hard for me and my heart and I've been mostly lying in bed lately -without being able to fucking sleep though 'cause it's too hot-, because my heart has to pump way more when there's this kind of weather so I'm exhausted. It's like 34°C (it's like 93°F I think and believe me, in Belgium, this isn't what we usually have). Besides, and idk if it's linked, but we keep having our power cut in the street so I didn't have internet much. 
> 
> ANYWAY FOR THOSE STILL READING THIS. So this chapter is a bit longer, the first part is simple, it's mostly about showing what Gavin is all about right now, how he handles the actual situation. Then, we fast forward a little. I needed for shit to get down guys, so we could really get into it. The next two chapters are two that I've been wanting to write for a long time now. So just be patient, it should be published soon but I have some stuff happening irl too so I'll try to do my best to update the story as soon as I can ! I'm a bit nervous about this chapter btw, probably because I'm very tired so I'm not sure what it's worth? Anyway... Hope you guys will enjoy it anyway !

“Didn’t dad tell you that you couldn’t come up here anymore?”

Gavin looked down from his spot on the tree, hiding his face from the sun with one of his hands.

“Dad ain’t the boss of me,” he told his twelve years old brother.

“Yeah, right!” Elijah said as he started climbing the tree too, until he reached a branch near Gavin’s, his usual seat. He sat properly, his back against the trunk. “You’re going to fall again, and then what are you going to tell him?”

Gavin sighed as he scratched his beard.

“Nothing, ‘cause I won’t fall. I’m not ten anymore,” he answered. He heard Elijah laugh and he looked at him, seeing a smile on his brother’s face.

“You’re old, now. I heard mom and dad talking about it,” Elijah continued.

“What did they say?” Gavin asked, sitting more comfortably too as he looked at their big garden.

“Mom’s sad you won’t have kids, dad said you could adopt,” he explained. Gavin frowned.

“Dad? But he hates Jacob, since when does he want me to have kids with him?” he asked, mildly-amused by the thought of his dad being ok with that. Elijah shrugged.

“You’ll have to ask Connor, he knows more about it than I do!”

Well, that was weird. When did Elijah meet Connor? He was too young. He looked at his brother again.

“Why would Connor have anything to do with this?” he asked. But before his brother could answer, he continued, “What if I don’t even want kids? I’m good by myself. Besides, they’ve got you.”

“Yeah, that’s lucky, otherwise I don’t know what they’d do,” Elijah said before laughing.

Gavin’s phone rang, and he got it out of his pocket. He grimaced.

“Shit…”

“Mom doesn’t like when you swear,” Gavin heard Elijah say.

“It’s Hank, I need to get that, it’s probably for work,” he mumbled. He heard a sigh next to him and he looked at Elijah.

“So you’re going to leave us again?” he asked.

“Come on Eli, you can take care of yourself,” he said, rolling his eyes. He felt his phone slip from his grasp. As he bent to catch it quickly, he fell from his branch.

Gavin opened his eyes, startled. He was staring at his ceiling, now, sitting on his couch. He had fallen asleep, shit. His phone was still ringing. He got it out of his pocket and looked at it. Fowler? He used the opportunity to look at the time. He had been home for about an hour only… He was probably tired from the training session and the walk home. He picked up.

“Reed,” he said. He listened carefully to his boss for a minute, closing his eyes as he kept a sigh inside. “Sure, no problem,” he said quietly. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

He yawned as he hung up, feeling tears in the corner of his eyes. He let out a deep breath again. He now had to go to work earlier to have a talk with Fowler, great. What did he do this time? He rubbed his eyes with one hand, getting up. He removed his shoes, leaving them on the floor of his living room, removed his hoodie and his pants, keeping his boxers and his t-shirt on as he went in his bedroom and let himself fall on his bed. Great, now that he was awake again, all his thoughts were spinning in his head. He turned on his back, getting in the center of his mattress.

He contemplated the idea of thinking about everything that had happened that day. Was it that bad to give it a thought? Unfortunately, if he was thinking about that, it meant he had to think about what had happened during his training.

And now that stupid android was even invading his dreams, what the hell?

Gavin stared at his ceiling for a moment. Yes, Connor was attractive. He could say it. He was designed to look like a human, it was perfectly fine to feel attraction, wasn’t it? Physical attraction, that is. It had nothing to do with his sweet personality, or the look he’d give you when he’d shut you up with nasty comebacks. That…. That wasn’t attracting at all. It also had nothing to do with the infinite patience he had with Gavin, and how he had proven himself to be trustworthy and a good listener. Or how despite everything, he seemed to be trusting Gavin enough to confide in him. It had nothing to do with that stuff. Gavin definitely wasn’t feeling closer to Connor on an emotional level. They got closer physically, obviously, with the training, but…

“Fuck!”

Gavin sat up, mad at himself. Why was he thinking about all this? Why was he trying to justify himself? He didn’t like Connor, period. He just couldn’t start feeling this way. It was simply because he had been alone for too long. Physically _and_ emotionally. So all this contact and that position… It made him feel things, but that was it. And that…. That stupid attraction for his personality, it just wasn’t attraction at all! It was just… some sort of… growing affection… because they were spending a lot of time together and Gavin wasn’t used to someone being that interested in him. He also wasn’t usually curious about others, but he was with Connor. To the point where it could become dangerous. He hadn’t been able to help but ask these questions about Elijah… And after that, if Connor was finding out about them being brother… would he be mad? Would he think Gavin was playing a nasty game all along?

Why was he even worried about that?

Ok, now he wasn’t going to be able to sleep. He sighed, letting himself fall right back on his bed.

He wasn’t feeling guilty about not telling him about Elijah. They weren’t close enough for him to tell him about a secret he had always kept. It had nothing to do with him anyway, right? It was just none of his business. It wasn’t a need to tell him that Gavin had felt, it was more like a bit of guilt because Connor was completely honest with him. He didn’t want to confide in the only person that had tried to see the good in him, in someone who could clearly see right through him and accept his true self without embarrassing him and telling everyone about how alone and lonely he was…

Another sigh broke the silence of the room as Gavin closed his eyes, hiding his face behind his hands. His head was hurting, now. Too much thinking, probably.

Maybe he could just avoid Connor, maybe he just needed some distance again. He would just have to act the way he did before.

But then, Connor would look at him with those puppy dog eyes and ask him what he did wrong as if he was responsible for every goddamn problems Gavin had with him. But if he was true to himself, Gavin knew that he was always creating the problems, always had, not just with Connor. Self-destructive, he was.

Still staring at his ceiling, in the darkness of his room, he slowly moved his left hand to put it under his shirt, his fingers slowly going up his right side, touching his warm skin. He felt his ribs under the tip of his fingers and thought about his fall, back when he was ten. He really did fall from that tree, back then. He hadn’t been very high, but high enough to break one of his ribs. It had been cracked and he had been in pain for some time. He had at first tried to hide it from his parents, but his mother eventually saw the very noticeable bruise on the side of his body. He got scold both for trying to climb the tree and for not saying anything. He was pretty sure it would have been the same result if he had just come clean about it. But he was doing things badly enough already and didn’t want to be even more of a burden than he already was for his parents. And he was only ten…

He gritted his teeth.

Still, he hadn’t dreamt about something like that in a long time. He hadn’t dreamt about Elijah in a very long time, actually. It could happen, now and then, but it hadn’t in so long that he had very mixed feelings about all this. Now that he was awake, he had a hard time remembering the voice he had in the dream. He had seen interviews of him on TV, in magazines… But he hadn’t directly talked to him or seen him in so long… He wondered what they would have to say to each other if they ever were to meet again.

His hand still resting on his side under his shirt, he started feeling weird about the entire dream. About the conversation and the context… Jacob had been mentioned, even. He had been too absorbed by his past, lately. The reason of his dream was obvious. He couldn’t stop taking these old pictures out of the box and look at them since Ava’s case. Then, he was seeing Connor all the time and that irresistible prick had that inevitable connection with Elijah… Then there was his stressful job, the pressure he didn’t want to admit feeling because of that new threat…

Honestly, Gavin was surprised he hadn’t seen Ava’s corpse in his dream, at that point. He closed his eyes, trying not to think about that.

Without really knowing how or why, soon after, Gavin was sitting on his bed with his laptop, looking up interviews of Elijah. Mainly those that were videos, so that he could watch him. He didn’t really know when he fell asleep again, but the next morning, when he opened his eyes, he directly saw Elijah’s face on his screen. He hadn’t even shut his laptop down.

 

“They’ll have people watching them from afar at all times  for their safety.” Fowler had been explaining the situation to Gavin. He, of course, hadn’t told his Captain that Connor had already told him about the case. He knew that Connor wasn’t supposed to say anything. Now, Fowler had just explained that his colleagues were being put under surveillance just to be sure nothing would happen to them. Gavin shortly laughed, sitting in front of Fowler’s desk.

“Yeah well, I’m not gonna go see that movie,” he said sarcastically, a bit amused.

“And so will you, Gavin,” Jeffrey finally said. Gavin directly looked at his superior as he straightened up a bit. He was receiving the kind of look that meant “there’s no point in arguing.”

“Please, don’t do this to me, sir,” Gavin said more quietly.

“Your safety is what matters to me. I am not going to let this bastard get anyone else here, he already did enough,” Fowler said strictly. Gavin gritted his teeth as he looked away. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Fowler, but he wasn’t very comfortable around him.

He had to say, Fowler was very patient with him. Yet, Gavin just couldn’t take it. He hated the fact that Fowler knew the last name he used to wear.

“I don’t need… protection,” Gavin said. He had already a hard enough time letting people in his life, but having other cops following him around? He sighed, regretting it instantly as he met Fowler’s eyes.

“You’re lucky enough that Miller is the one I chose to lead that surveillance, Gavin,” Fowler said a bit louder, “so either you stop complaining, or you’ll be stuck following Hank and Connor around until they solve this! Understood?”

Gavin grimaced, looking away again, his fingers tightening around the arms of his chair.

“Peterson got shot while responding to an emergency call… Nobody’s safe, Gavin. You stick together until they find out what’s going on,” Fowler continued. Gavin, still annoyed, only looked in the direction of Connor and Hank’s desks. They weren’t there yet, as Gavin had to come early. He hoped they were going to solve that case quickly. He glanced at Fowler again.

“Fine,” he finally said as he stood up. “I’ll be good,” he added before sighing again, walking towards the door as he mumbled things to himself.

 

Later that day, during one of his breaks, Gavin found himself in the break room, discussing with Chris Miller when Connor and Hank finally arrived and walked towards the break room. They had spent a part of the day outside, going to the morgue and to the different crime scenes, trying to see if Connor could find anything that could help.

“We’re gonna have such a great time,” Chris said with a smile as he elbowed Gavin, enjoying this opportunity to tease him. Gavin couldn’t do anything because if he was, Chris knew he’d have to stay with Hank and Connor.

“I swear to god Miller, if you don’t stop that…” Gavin mumbled, not finishing his sentence and only hearing Chris laugh.

Hank and Connor had walked in and heard the exchange. Gavin directly looked at Connor and gritted his teeth, feeling his face becoming hotter. Hank stopped at the coffee machine and glanced at them.

“Sorry that you’re stuck with him, Chris,” he simply said, kind of pleased to see Gavin being so bothered by the situation.

“It’s fine, Lieutenant,” Chris said, still smiling. “We’ll soon be besties,” he added, putting his arm around Gavin’s shoulder who directly shrugged to make him stop. He ended up pushing Chris’ arm away as he glared at Hank. Connor was just observing the scene, hands behind his back.

“Lighten up, Gavin, maybe you’ll finally make a friend,” Hank said, sipping his coffee. Gavin stared at him for a second before walking past the table, stopping in front of Hank.

“And maybe one day you’ll do your job properly, and you’ll solve that fucking case, huh?” he said.

“I’m tempted to wait just a while longer,” Hank said, not feeling intimidated at all. Gavin knew he had to watch himself, so he wouldn’t have to hang out with Hank for the rest of the case, and he didn’t say anything, he just stayed close to the man, looking at him in the eye.

Connor tilted his head, noticing Gavin’s jaw moving as if he was chewing again. He also noted that his cheeks were a bit redder, while his skin around his eyes was whiter, but also darker in places, showing that he hadn’t slept well. He looked almost sick.

After this short exchange, Gavin was ready to storm off, but he was stopped by Connor who grabbed his arm. He turned, surprised. So were the other two. Connor had a slight frown on his forehead.

“What the fuck are you doing, tin can?” Gavin asked a bit aggressively. His day had started badly, and he was too tired to be patient. Besides, he didn’t want to act nice in front of Hank and Chris. He couldn’t show to anyone that he was going soft on Connor. And what did he want, staring at him this way?

“Are you feeling alright, Detective Reed?” Connor asked, examining his features. Gavin frowned.

Without letting go of his arm, to be sure he wouldn’t go away, Connor used his other hand to touch Gavin’s face, his fingers going on his forehead. He had removed his skin from the tips so that he could check his body temperature. He frowned again.

“Your body temperature is higher than it should be,” he said quietly. Gavin, too surprised to say anything at the moment, just stared. Connor’s eyes went down on Gavin’s chest and he looked for a moment, actually scanning his body. “Your heart is also pumping faster,” he added. Gavin suddenly moved backwards so that Connor would stop touching him and he pulled his arm so that Connor would let go of him.

“Stop that, you freak!” Gavin said, feeling embarrassed but only showing anger.

“I’m just worried that you might be sick, after yesterday,” he said quietly. Hank slightly frowned. Yesterday? The day Connor had had plans with someone?

“I’m not sick! Shut the fuck up you stupid-!” Gavin didn’t finish, feeling his cheeks getting redder by the second. “Fuck you!” He said loudly before finally leaving that room. Connor only watched him leave, a bit surprised by this outburst of rage. Everything seemed fine, the night before, even if Gavin had looked annoyed about some things.

“What exactly happened yesterday?” Hank finally asked, staring at Connor who turned to face his partner.

“He walked home in the cold… He doesn’t have his car anymore, remember?” he simply said. He didn’t say he accompanied him, just that he knew how he had got home. Hank raised a brow but didn’t say anything.

“Anyway, Chris. Not having him around anymore would finally bring peace but…” Hank sighed. “Don’t let anything happen to him, alright? It’d be weird not having this asshole around anymore.”

“You can count on me, Lieutenant,” Chris said, finally more serious. He smiled at Hank and Connor before taking the two cups of coffee on the table to leave the break room. “Oooh Gavin! You forgot your coffee! A chance I’m there to look after you!”

“We better get things done before Gavin chokes him,” Hank finally said, giving a tap on Connor’s shoulder as he walked towards his desk.

 

And just like that, Gavin started to have a certain schedule, with Chris knowing where he was going, when, how. Chris would exchange his place with another officer at night, someone who would stay in front of Gavin’s apartment to make sure no one was lurking.

And yet, neither Chris nor Hank and Connor could have prevented what happened. February was only debuting, it seemed like everything was ok. None of their colleagues had been murdered, at least. But Connor and Hank didn’t really have anything more to add to the case. They had so very little to begin with… They almost had to wish for something to happen to be able to find something, but they wouldn’t do something like that.

No other car had been destroyed, no other officer had been threatened… they guessed that the surveillance was making the killer’s plans more difficult. It wasn’t that bad, at least no one was hurt.

And yet, they finally got a call. It was the end of the day, Hank and Connor were still at their desks, discussing, when Hank’s phone rang. He glanced at Connor as he picked up. Whenever his phone was ringing, they were afraid that one of their colleagues had been hurt.

“Anderson,” Hank said before listening to the caller. Connor waited with anticipation, reading Hank’s body language to know how to react. Hank became more tense, demanding explanations about what had happened.

“We’ll be there. Yes, tell them to wait for us before leaving. Yeah, I’ll take care of that,” he said before hanging up. He stood up right away. “Come on Connor, hurry up, we’ve got work to do,” he mumbled.

“Is anyone…” Connor asked without finishing his question, anxious.

“No one’s dead,” Hank simply said. “But we have a situation. I’ll call Chris in the car, let’s just go.”

They both hurried out of the precinct, Hank explaining that one of the officers under surveillance had been attacked. He was alright, probably because he had protection. And yet…

“But from what you said, there was no gunshot, or real attempt to kill,” Connor said as he sat in the car. Hank was already starting it and he directly left the parking, driving towards the address he had been given.

“No. But he’s not the only one who’s been attacked,” he said.

“Gavin?” Connor directly asked, alert.

During the last two weeks of surveillance, he had spent less time with Gavin. It seemed that Gavin was avoiding him. Connor didn’t understand but didn’t feel like confiding in Hank about it. It would have meant he had to tell him about the time they had spent together, and not only would it annoy his partner, but he would certainly come up with the conclusion that Gavin was just an ass, and that that time spent together hadn’t meant anything. Connor wouldn’t blame Hank for that, because sometimes, he was thinking the same. Maybe those moments had meant absolutely nothing in Gavin’s mind, not even once. He was just not that mean of a person when you learned a bit about him, but it didn’t mean he was your friend, or just… someone you really knew.

And at the same time, it had annoyed Connor. Way more than he had expected. Maybe because he thought he was finally making a real friend. It wasn’t like with the other people he was working with. Them, he greeted them, had small talks with them, but he wasn’t actually spending that much time with them, and he didn’t feel the need to. Gavin was making Connor curious, he wanted to know him more, to spend time around him, to do activities with him… he wasn’t sure why, he just knew that that feeling was there, deep inside, and that he couldn’t resist it.

“No, no, Gavin’s fine. I think… for now, at least,” Hank said, dialing Chris’ number. “It was Russell.”

“But he was under surveillance too, I don’t understand how that could happen…” Connor said, at a loss.

“I think that’s why there were no deaths,” he said before hanging up. “Why the fuck Chris isn’t answering his goddamn phone?” He dialed the number again. Connor could feel his stress level increasing. Was Chris alright? And Gavin? Was Gavin safe? Or wasn’t he answering his phone because they had both been attacked too? “Thing is, they were attacked at almost exactly the same time,” Hank mumbled. “I think we’re dealing with a group, Connor. They probably know they’re being watched… They must have attacked to create diversions or something, to be sure we’d be busy while they’d kill the actual target of the lot. It could have been any of them I guess…” He then handed him his phone. “Keep calling until he answers his fucking phone.”

Connor didn’t know what to say anymore, as he felt that his stress level was rising again. He really wasn’t feeling comfortable. His LED had turned yellow and kept flickering as he dialed Chris’ number a first time. Hank glanced at him, surprised that he wasn’t saying anything, or that he wasn’t trying to find theories. He was silent as he hung up.

“Still no answer,” he just said quietly.

“Try again,” Hank said, taking a turn that would lead them to their destination. Connor put the phone near his ear again as he looked out the windshield, leaning forward a bit. He frowned. They weren’t far from Gavin’s street. He slowly lowered the phone and he looked at it as Hank parked.

“It’s going straight to voicemail…” he then said. He exchanged a glance with Hank before the lieutenant got out of the car. Connor didn’t follow right away as he stared at the phone again. He looked out the window. An ambulance was there, Hank was already walking towards it. He could see the officer sitting in it. He kept the phone in his hands as he got out the car, walking towards them.

“What happened to you, Vince?” Hank asked as he stopped in front of the open back doors of the ambulance. The man slowly shook his head, holding a pack of ice against his cheek. His skin had changed color already, and his leg was bandaged.

“I don’t even know… We answered a house call and when we arrived… There was no light, no one…” he explained slowly. The officer in charge of his surveillance arrived near the ambulance.

“Hank!” he said, relieved to see him. He was the one that had called him to announce what had happened.

“I was telling them what happened,” Vince told him, looking exhausted.

“You should rest,” the officer said. “I’ll take care of it, an officer will come with you to the hospital,” he said.

Soon after, they watched the ambulance leaving.

“The owners arrived five minutes ago,” the officer told Hank, discreetly pointing at them. “They were coming back from the theatre, they had no idea, they’re not the ones who made the call. It was the aggressor,” he explained.

“To lure you in the house…”

“Yeah… He cut the power and everything… I went in with Vince, with flashlights… The door was open, we looked around, I heard a gun shot… I only saw the guy running away, he didn’t try to kill him or to attack me. Maybe he didn’t know we were two and panicked, I don’t know, but he left.”

“Was Vince able to defend himself?” Connor directly asked, hoping maybe there would be his blood or something, so that he would identify him. The officer shook his head.

“No, he knocked him out first and shot only afterwards.”

“He shot him just once?” Connor asked, getting a glance from the officer.

“Yeah, I think that’s enough,” the officer said, taken aback, not knowing the killer was usually shooting his victims three times. Another proof that he hadn’t tried to kill him. “And to be honest, it could have been way worse. The bullet went through, so we’ve got it, and he’s going to be fine. I couldn’t go after him, not with Vince being hurt like that.”

“It’s fine, you did what you had to do,” Hank said, giving him a tap on the shoulder. “What about Russell? We heard he was attacked too.”

“We’ll take care of the rest, thanks,” Hank simply said before approaching Connor. “He still isn’t answering?”

“No…” Connor said. “It’s not a coincidence that they’ve been attacked around the same time and that Chris isn’t answering!” Connor said more firmly.

“Calm down, Connor, we’ll figure it out. We’ll send someone at Gavin’s place, he’s supposed to be there anyway.”

“What if there’s three of them, Hank? What are we going to do? We’ve got nothing on them,” Connor said, looking desperate. Hank was starting to get frustrated too and was about to answer when the officer they had been talking to came back.

“Hank!” He was almost running in their direction.

“What’s going on?”

“The precinct just transferred a call. Someone informed us of a breaking and entering in Detective Reed’s building,” he said.

“What?” Connor asked suddenly as he got closer to them.

“A woman called the precinct, she said she heard some noise, cracked her door open and saw someone go in his apartment. She said it wasn’t the first time she saw her inside the building, but she’s almost certain he doesn’t live there.”

“Connor! Fuck… Thanks, we’ll go check it out,” Hank said quickly before following Connor who was already getting in the car, in front of the wheel. He started the car, waited for Hank to sit and close the door before driving right away.

“Connor wait, I need to ask for his ad-“

“I know where he lives,” Connor only said.

“How?” Hank first asked before reminding himself that Connor was an android. He wouldn’t be surprised if he could just find this kind of stuff thank to his programs. “Nevermind that,” he quickly said, “you stay with me once we’re there,” Hank said. Connor didn’t answer.

 

He parked in Gavin’s street and got out of the car, pointing at the building. He didn’t take the time to look around and scan the plates on the different cars to check for Chris’. He crossed the street, running towards the building, followed by Hank. He stopped in front of it and looked up, looking at the windows.

“No light in his apartment,” Connor said quietly. Hank frowned.

“You’ve been here before?” he asked, looking up too.

“There’s no time to talk about this,” he just said.

“Connor, I don’t see his bike, I don’t think Gavin’s here,” Hank said as he was looking around. “Chris isn’t here either,” he added.

“Well then, maybe we’ll just find the killer. We need to get in anyway,” he said.

“So what, we’ll ring the bell and he’s going to open to us? He’s obviously waiting for Gavin to come home to get him,” Hank said, looking around again. “He’s supposed to follow his schedule, I don’t get it… Where the fuck are they?”

Suddenly, they heard the door buzzing. They looked at each other, frowning, as it wasn’t stopping, Hank took his gun out, walking towards the door slowly before pushing it open. The buzzing sound stopped and the light in the hallways was turned on as they stepped in.

“What the fuck is going on…”

Connor reached for his gun too, under his jacket, getting it out. They heard footsteps in the stairs, exchanged a glance and they pointed their guns in that direction.

They waited. After a moment, the footsteps stopped and were replaced by a little scream. The woman was against the wall and had quickly put her hands on her mouth. She was shaking, clearly scared. Hank and Connor directly lowered their gun and Hank walked quickly towards the woman. She seemed to be in her mid-sixties.

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” He quickly said. “We thought you were… Are you the person who called the police?” he asked. The woman, still shocked, only slightly nodded. “And you opened the door for us?” Again, she nodded.

“I… The man I had on the phone told me to stay in my apartment…” she began quietly, looking up to check there was no movement upstairs. “He told me to wait for the cops to arrive… When I saw you… You weren’t coming in so I opened, I didn’t want to talk from the window… I was afraid he would hear.”

She had finished her sentence even more quietly, as if the man would have been able to hear her from there.

“Stay behind us,” Connor said as he started to climb the stairs, passing both Hank and the woman. Hank started to walk with her and gave her a glance.

“Which floor do we have to go to?” He asked.

“Third.” Hank looked at Connor. They had both said the number at the same time. Connor had some explaining to do. When they arrived, Hank turned again to face the woman.

“You didn’t see or hear him get out?” he whispered. She shook her head. “And you’re sure he broke in?” This time, she nodded.

“He’s been around a few times,” she whispered. “In this hallway… I’ve known Mister Reed for years and I have never seen this man… I know that Mister Reed doesn’t have visitors,” she said, getting a bit sidetracked, “He is very kind, Mister Reed, he always steps by on Sundays… You know, I don’t think he would spend time with such people,” she continued. Hank, who at that point was just relieved they hadn’t scared her to her death, stopped himself from sighing but also from laughing at the idea of Gavin going to her place every Sunday and being nice.

“Go back inside, Misses, please. We will take care of it and we will come back take your statement afterwards,” he said. Connor was staring at Gavin’s door. It was closed. He saw the window at the end of the corridor, it was open. Connor slowly walked in the hallway, his gun still between his fingers. He approached the window and looked down. He heard a door close and turned his head. The woman was back inside her apartment and Hank walked towards Gavin’s door.

“There’s no fire escape, Hank,” he said quietly. “If he came from there…” There was a silence.

“You think it’s an android?” Hank asked. Connor approached the door too and stopped on the other side of it. They were staring at each other, guns in hands.

“Could be,” Connor said. “After what happened during the revolution… the number of androids the police and the army killed… Maybe they have a grudge,” he said.

“We’ll soon find out,” Hank said. They looked at each other, slightly moving their head as they counted to three. Hank smashed the door open with his foot, entering, soon followed by Connor. He had no difficulty seeing in the dark and he directly went in the room on his left, opening the door. The light behind him was turned on and Hank starting to move in the apartment too. Connor was in the bathroom and he turned on the light. It wasn’t that big, and his eyes went everywhere in the room. Nothing. He got out and walked further in the apartment.

He somehow knew Gavin could afford a better place. Instead, he was living in a little apartment, his kitchen, dining-room and living-room were just one big room, he had his bathroom, and he guessed that the door on the right was his bedroom. None of the things he owned came from Cyberlife, even though it was what everyone was using.

“No one’s here,” Hank whispered, starting to wonder if the woman hadn’t just seen things. Connor opened the bedroom, slowly pushing the door. The light from the living-room was lightening the room as the door moved. The bed wasn’t made but it seemed to be the only room that was a bit untidy. He looked around, stepping in.

The door suddenly hit him and he fell down, letting go of his gun. Hank reacted right away, running in his direction and shoving the attacker inside the room before he could reach Connor. They fell inside and struggled as Connor got up. He grabbed the man that was above Hank right after he had punched the Lieutenant and pulled him. The man let go of Hank and turned around, meeting Connor’s eyes. Right after, he tried to hit him. Connor blocked the punch and hit back, making the man stumble. He was stopped by the door frame but soon threw himself on Connor again. They stumbled, hitting the chair that fell down and the table. They fell on the chair and Connor rolled on the side, ending up laying on the floor. The man used the opportunity to try and escape, but Connor grabbed his leg, pulling it and making him fall. He struggled to get back up, still holding the man.

He was about to grab his shirt to make him get up but the man turned on the floor, Connor’s gun in his hands.

He shot and Connor avoided the bullet, directly moving on the side. However, he heard a noise behind him. A grunt, someone falling loudly.

“Hank!” Connor’s LED turned red and flickered dangerously. The man used the distraction to finally get up. He didn’t shoot, didn’t even keep the gun. He directly ran towards the door and turned to the side of the window.

Connor didn’t move for a moment, his eyes fixed on the door. Why wasn’t he running after him? Why wasn’t he running towards Hank? His LED was still flickering, and he felt himself shaking. He was anxious, devastated, desperate, angry… too many of his new emotions were conflicting and it took him a few more seconds to move, going to Hank.

“Hank! Hank!” He put his hands on Hank’s shoulders, shaking him a little. He was already unconscious. He quickly scanned the body. His heart was beating, so it was something already. He quickly located the wound. On the side of his stomach. The bullet was still in. There was a chance. If the android had actually tried to shoot Hank, he would have been dead by now, and Connor knew it. But he had tried to kill Connor instead. And he avoided the bullet…

Connor gritted his teeth as he started to move Hank’s clothes out of the way, moving his jacket, then unbuttoning his shirt. There was too much blood. He put his shaking hands on the wound, feeling something wet on his cheeks.

“Hank, come on, Hank!” His chin was shaking as he pressed his hands on the wound. The blood needed to stop. He usually knew what to do, how to process this kind of situations, how to react in case of emergency. But the emotions… they were getting in his way. His LED was still red as he looked behind him. The door was still open. He called for help, shouting for someone to hear him.


	10. Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I told you the next chapter would come soon !   
> I can't wait to write the next one. I'll be busy tomorrow but I'll find some time to begin writing it ! 
> 
> Thank you again for all the kudos and all the comments, it warms my heart !

At least, Gavin’s neighbors weren’t deaf. They heard the gunshot, Connor’s voice, and they came running. Connor saw a man enter before he stopped, blocking his daughter at the door so that she wouldn’t see. Connor heard him talking about calling the cops, an ambulance, something, but he wasn’t even sure. He was removing his jacket to press it against the wound. He could see his hands and sleeves, tainted by Hank’s blood. He could feel tears rolling down his cheeks and he was barely able to articulate when the man came next to him to ask what happened.

After that, everything happened pretty quickly, and at the same time, not fast enough for Connor. They had to wait for the ambulance, the man checking that Hank was still breathing every now and then while Connor was still applying pressure on the wound. He heard a lot of noise, officers came in, two ambulance men and an android that was with them. They asked him to let go of Hank but he didn’t really hear it, they asked him again, he didn’t react. He felt hands on his shoulders, he was pulled away by the officers and he didn’t fight, he didn’t really know what to do. So, he waited in the hallway with one of the officers. The neighbors were still there, the man was telling an officer what he had heard, next to Gavin’s door, while the old woman was at her own door, explaining the whole situation. Connor wasn’t talking, he was watching without paying attention, waiting. His LED was still red and he just wanted to know if Hank was going to be fine.

After a moment, he saw a stretcher being pulled out of Gavin’s place and he saw Hank on it. He was unconscious, but alive. He slowly closed his eyes, feeling dizzy, as if he was about to lose his balance. The officer was talking to him, she was trying to tell him something, but he didn’t hear the beginning.

“… I will accompany you to the hospital and you will tell me what happened once we’re there,” she said. He opened his eyes, looking at her again.

He sighted Chris talking to some officers when he got out of the building. He met his eyes. Chris seemed disconcerted, shocked, even. Gavin wasn’t there. 

 

Next thing he knew, he was sitting in a white hallway with the officer. He tried to explain what happened, but he was still very disconcerted, his red LED flickering from time to time. He was still in his shirt, traces on his stomach showed that he had tried to wipe his hands on it. He couldn’t stand having this blood on his fingers. Hank was in surgery, and he was waiting, anxious. That’s all he could do; wait.

 

When Gavin arrived in his street, he directly slowed his bike down as he saw the lights from different police cars, neighbors outside the building, other people watching what was going on… He stopped his bike in the middle of the road and slowly removed his helmet, looking at his building.

Soon enough, because he had heard a bike, Chris came out of the building, trying to see if it was Gavin. Finally seeing him, he walked quickly towards him.

“Chris, what the fuck happened here?” he asked, glancing at his colleague before looking at his building again.

“Where the fuck were you, Gavin?” Chris almost shouted. Gavin wasn’t surprised by the fact that he was mad, but more by the fact that he was getting yelled at by Chris, who was one of the nicest person he knew. “I’ve been looking for you all around the fucking city! But you left me behind on the way back to your place with your stupid bike,” Gavin frowned a little, Chris becoming more and more angry as he was speaking. “You turn off your fucking phone, you don’t give any news, and I’m the one taking the heat for your fucking behavior!”

Gavin didn’t answer right away. What did Chris want him to say? That he needed finally some time alone to go to a specific place, so that he could let it all out and feel a bit better after? He just stared at Chris, not saying anything. Something had happened. Well, yeah, that was obvious. But there was something else. Chris met his eyes and, after a few seconds, his expression changed.

“It’s Hank,” he said more quietly. “He’s been shot in your apartment.”

 

After Gavin had parked his bike, Chris explained everything he knew about the situation, what the neighbors had told the cops about the intervention, the gunshot… He talked about the fact that Hank and Connor had tried to call him many times too. He had let his phone on his desk as he went to see Fowler to tell him he had lost track of Gavin. In this critical moment, he had been scolded and Fowler was really mad at Gavin. However, Chris noticed that he didn’t seem to care all that much about what Fowler had to say.

Chris didn’t dislike Gavin. He liked to see the best in people. And even if with Gavin, you really had to look really deep inside him to try and maybe find some kindness, interest or care, he was pretty sure there was something. Even with his twisted sense of humor, his anger issues, even with his hatred of others. He had always been nice with Gavin, and after some time, he had been able to have small talks without him being in a bad mood. But even with the years going by, he had a hard time grasping what Gavin was all about.

“I hope you have some good excuse, Gavin. It doesn’t look good for you,” Chris said. “What were you doing?” Gavin sighed and walked past Chris.

“Look, I’d like to see my place, now, see the fucking damages and-“ he didn’t finish, Chris grabbing his arm to make him turn.

“I’m not joking, Gavin! I need to make a report, I don’t know what the consequences will be but you can’t just walk away like that because you don’t want to talk about it!”

“Make me,” Gavin just said, getting a bit closer. Chris stared at Gavin for a few seconds. He was acting weirdly. Why, all of a sudden, had he gained so much speed on the road to make sure he wouldn’t be able to follow him? Where did he have to go? Was he that pale because of the cold and what had happened? He had looked very tired during the last few days, he had dark rings under his eyes, he was pale, but now that he was staring at him under a street light, Chris could see that his eyes were a bit red. He slowly let go of Gavin’s arm.

“What were you doing, Gavin?” he asked again.

“I was minding my own damn business. That’s what I was doing, Chris,” Gavin just said, impatient.

“Come on! Stop acting like that! You’re gonna get in trouble again and then you’re going to complain about it, as if it wasn’t your fault!”

“Tell me something, Chris,” Gavin said as he put his hand on Chris’ shoulder. “Are you going to get in trouble?” he asked. Chris looked down for a second before meeting Gavin’s eyes again.

“I shouldn’t,” he finally said, knowing what was coming.

“Then why the fuck are you busting my fucking balls?” Gavin asked more loudly. “You’ve got a life on your own, right? Well, I’ve got one too. If I want to take a piss, do I need to be fucking watched? There’s some things I’d like to be alone to do. That’s what’s called having a private life, Miller!”

“I know but-“

“You’ve been on my ass for two weeks and-“

“The day you weren’t watched, something happened!” Chris said, being louder too. Gavin stopped himself from sighing.

“But I wasn’t there! That moron didn’t even know! I’m done with this, Chris, I’m… I’m fucking done. I need to go see the damages, alright? Just… I’ll deal with Fowler on my own.”

He finally sighed before taking a few steps back, watching Chris. He shook his head and turned around, finally walking towards his building. Chris didn’t insist, he didn’t follow him either. He watched him leave before swearing under his breath.

 

“Oh, Gavin!”

He was only up the stairs when he heard his neighbor calling him. He looked at the old woman who was still talking with an officer.

“Detective Reed,” the officer said as Gavin approached. The hallway was empty if it weren’t for them and there was no doubt in his mind that his neighbor had asked the officer to stay until he arrived, to be reassured.

“Mike,” Gavin said, “Misses Martha.” He wasn’t able to fake a smile for her. He liked her, but he wasn’t in the mood and he couldn’t just force himself. He had known Martha since he had moved in that apartment, and had always called her Misses Martha, he didn’t really remember why.

“Thank god you are fine,” she said as she approached Gavin, putting her hands on his arms, looking worried. Gavin only slightly nodded.

“Yeah, don’t worry. Nothing happened to me,” he said quietly.

“I’ll go, now,” Mike said, glancing at Gavin. “Sorry for the mess,” he added. Gavin glanced at his closed door, seeing the holographic line blocking the passage to civilians.

“They’re done?” he quickly asked to be sure he could enter and clean everything up. Mike nodded, gave him a tap on the shoulder and left. He looked at Martha again. “Are you alright? I heard you’re the one who called the cops,” he said. She nodded, her fingers still around Gavin’s arms.

“Yes, yes I did,” she said. “I saw him breaking in, I knew you didn’t know who he was, and that you weren’t there. Who is he, Gavin? Did he want to harm you?” She looked genuinely worried and Gavin slightly smiled, suddenly feeling a pang of emotion.

“I don’t know… who he is, or his intentions,” he finally said before he sighed, glancing at his door again.

“And your friends, are they alright?” she asked. Right, she met Hank and Connor. He looked at her and again, he felt this wave of emotions overwhelming him.

“I don’t know,” he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “I’ll tell you what,” he continued, “I’m going to clean up the mess, and I’m going to go to the hospital. If I know anything, I’ll tell you tomorrow,” he said.

After asking her to rest and wishing her a good night, Gavin finally walked towards his door. He stopped in front of it as he sighed.

When he opened it, it was dark inside.  He stepped in, going through the line, and he stopped, putting his hand on the switch. He swallowed his spit and turned the light on. From his spot, he could see the chair on the floor as well as the blood. He felt slightly sick. He let out another deep sigh before closing his door behind him and getting to work. He needed to remove all this blood… He was glad that they had taken care of his door already, as Chris had told him that Hank had smashed it open.

The bathroom door was still wide open, and he looked inside. Nothing. He closed it and looked around him, suddenly feeling a bit unsafe in his own flat.

When he arrived near the puddle of blood, he slowed down, slowly approaching and glancing in his bedroom. Great, he would never be able to remove it from his carpet. At least, he could do his best with the tiles.

He looked at his table and the chair. He started by moving the table to put it back at its usual place, before he picked up the chair. When he put it back at its place, he frowned and looked at one of its legs. He looked at the floor where the chair had fallen against, then at the chair again. Strange… He put his hand on the top of the chair and pushed it so that it would fall again. He didn’t put it back up and left it there.

He didn’t know how long it took him to clean the blood on the floor, but he didn’t like the color of the water in his bucket, the color of his sponge and towel, and what was on his hands. When he was done with everything, he decided to take a shower, to feel a bit better. He watched the red water disappearing in the drain until he was clean. Only then, he stepped out of the shower and changed clothes. He didn’t feel like staying in his apartment and he definitely needed to go to the hospital and see Connor and know if Hank…

He put his jacket back on and left his place.

When he got out of the building, he spotted Chris’ car on the other side of the road. He looked both way before crossing the road and stopped at his window.

“I’m going to the hospital,” he said.

“Shouldn’t you stay put?” Chris asked carefully.

“I’m going, Chris. You can follow me if you want, I won’t… You know,” he just said. Chris nodded and Gavin walked towards his bike, putting his helmet on and starting it.

 

When he arrived in front of Hank’s door with Chris, his helmet in his hand, he hesitated. The nurse had told him he was out of surgery, that Connor was there but that Hank was resting. Would Connor be mad at him?

“Gavin,” Chris said quietly. Gavin had his hand on the door but wasn’t moving, thinking about it. He glanced at Chris. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he directly said before pushing the door open. He wasn’t, really. He was feeling guilty. And at the same time, would it have changed something? If he had been in his apartment, maybe he would have been dead? But then, Hank probably wouldn’t have been shot…

He walked in the room, followed by Chris.  As he put his helmet on the little table that was in the room, he took notice of the heart monitor. It was stable. There was only a little lamp that was turned on, so there wouldn’t be too much light in the room, but all he saw was Hank on his bed, he didn’t see Connor at first. He approached the bed with Chris and stared at Hank for a moment.

No, he didn’t really like Hank. They had this kind of mutual hatred for each other. But he knew he had been through a lot. Gavin knew he was a bit twisted, sometimes, insulting him for his alcoholism, and just mocking him when he had the chance to do so. He was so angry at the world that he kept on pushing people’s buttons, waiting for the inevitable answer, for the rage that would come at him to prove him he was right, to prove him that no one liked him. His brain was working against him and he didn’t want to get along with people. So he was breaking all possible amical relationship before they even began, so that he would never be disappointed. He looked down, wondering how he had ended up in this mess. Chris sat on the seat near Hank’s bed and looked at Gavin.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this. He’s going to be fine, it’s all that matter,” he whispered. Gavin glanced at him again.

“I’m not,” he just said as he shrugged. They heard some noise and both turned their head towards the bathroom door. Was Connor in there? The idea seemed absurd and yet, when the door opened, Gavin saw him.

It was so weird. He could see that his LED was red, he looked completely lost. He was wearing a washed-out sweatshirt that, he hoped, didn’t belong to him, given how ugly it was. And… it just gave him a completely different allure.

“Connor,” Gavin whispered, even though he shouldn’t have been surprised to see him there. Maybe it was relief. He didn’t seem to be hurt at all, just… well, devastated. Connor slightly opened his mouth as he stared at Gavin, wanting to say something but he didn’t know where to begin. Where had he been? He felt tears coming again and he blinked before finally approaching.

“You’re fine,” he said quietly. Gavin slightly opened his arms, as to say “as you can see”, before hiding one of his hands in his pocket, the other one slightly tapping the end of Hank’s bed. He didn’t know how to act, he was feeling so guilty.

“I’m… sorry for what happened,” he said, still quietly and not looking at Connor anymore, forgetting Chris’ presence. Connor stopped in front of Gavin and inspected his face, his eyes going down on his body.

He was perfectly fine. Good. He moved, seemed hesitant, then he put his hands on Gavin’s shoulders. Gavin directly looked at Connor, a bit surprised. He felt that Connor was pressing his shoulders, then moving his hands down on his arms to do the same. And then, he felt Connor’s hands on his cheeks. “Connor,” he said, now very aware of Chris’ presence. He was just feeling awkward because of that but if he was listening to himself, he would let Connor do whatever without stopping him. He would probably press his hands harder against his cheeks, maybe against his chest to make him feel his heartbeat, to make him feel that he was alive. He looked so anxious, so unstable… His LED was still red and flickering and Gavin wasn’t sure about what that meant.

He could remember the android they had to interrogate, not long after Connor had arrived in the precinct, how his LED was also red, and he was worried for Connor. It meant that he wasn’t well, if he was right.

Chris, at that point, looked around. Was he dreaming? Why wasn’t Reed going berserk on Connor for touching him this way?

“Are you okay, Connor?” Gavin simply asked, not removing Connor’s hands from his cheeks. It’s after another few seconds that Connor realized what he was doing and he blinked again, finally removing his hands. He looked down and pulled his sleeves a little to hide his hands in them, feeling awkward.

“I don’t know,” he simply said. Gavin took a deep breath as he looked at Hank again. He glanced at Connor.

“Did you get some air, or did you stay here since…” he didn’t finish as Connor looked away again.

“No, I can’t… I can’t leave, I need to stay here for when he wakes up,” Connor said, talking quickly.

“He’s not going to wake up-“ he saw Connor directly looking at him and he slightly raised one of his hands, continuing, “-tonight, Connor. The nurse told me they gave him painkillers and all that stuff, he’s going to sleep for a while, maybe even until tomorrow afternoon... And he needs to rest. What you need is to get out of here, even just for a moment,” Gavin said, trying to be rational. He knew that Hank was all Connor had, and vice versa. Connor seriously had to find some peace, the light on his temple wasn’t reassuring Gavin.

“Do you want me to take care of it, Gavin?” Chris asked as he stood up, surprised by Gavin’s attitude. Gavin turned his head to look at him.

“I can handle it,” he simply said. Chris frowned for a second before looking at Connor.

“What do you want to do, Connor?” he asked, wondering since when they had been talking normally to each other. The last time he had actually seen them interact, back in the break room of the precinct, Gavin had been insulting Connor and refusing physical contact. And it had happened only two weeks before that night.

Connor seemed conflicted. Not about spending time with Gavin, but about leaving Hank. He looked at Chris.

“Would you… would you stay here while I’m gone?” he asked quietly. Chris seemed hesitant. He was already supposed to be home, he hadn’t even seen his son that day, with everything that had happened.

“I’ll… I have to go home. But I’ll call someone to stay around. I’m not leaving until someone takes my place, alright?” he finally said, resigned. Gavin looked at him, thinking that he was too kind for his own good. Well, that’s probably because he believed the killer wasn’t going to come in the hospital to finish the job. But you could never know. Besides, if Hank were to wake up, there would be someone to notify them directly.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Gavin said directly before walking towards the door, picking up his helmet as he did so. “Come on, Connor, I have something to show you anyway,” he said, thinking about his chair again.

 

Maybe it wasn’t a good plan to make him come back to the scene that night, but Connor wasn’t just going to stay locked in the hospital without doing anything anyway, was he? They stayed silent as they walked in the hallways, and Gavin was glad to be hit in the face by the fresh air once they walked out.

“What do you want to show me?” Connor finally asked. Gavin turned and bit his lip from the inside of his mouth.

“D’you mind if we go back to my place? I think maybe there’s something weird. Maybe I’m imagining things and I’d understand if you’re not comfortable with-“

“Let’s go,” Connor simply said. “Before I turn around and just… Let’s just go,” he said more quietly. Gavin didn’t move right away.

“If you want to talk about it…” he began. He wasn’t used to that, but he knew that Connor needed people he could confide in, their night stroll had shown him that. They weren’t the same when it came to that, but he could make an effort.

“Not now,” Connor simply said, finally meeting Gavin’s eyes.

“Alright,” Gavin said before walking towards his bike. “Ever been on one of these before?” he asked.

“No, I haven’t…” Gavin turned and handed him his helmet.

“Okay, put that on,” he said before he sat on the bike. He glanced at Connor. Dressed like that and with a helmet on… He bit his lip again as he thought about Hank’s reaction if he were to see Connor like that. He tapped the space behind him. “Sit,” he said. He waited for Connor to be placed properly. “Hold onto me, alright?”

He froze when he felt Connor’s hands not just on his sides, but around his waist so that he wouldn’t fall down. Geez. He gritted his teeth as he felt a wave of heat going through his body and he started his bike.

 

He stopped in front of his building again. And to think that a couple of hours ago, there was an ambulance, police cars and so much noise in the street. It’s like nothing had ever happened and yet for both Gavin and Connor, the vibe wasn’t the most reassuring.

When they arrived in Gavin’s hallway, Connor couldn’t help but glance at his neighbor’s door. He stopped behind Gavin as he unlocked the door.

“She’s very nice,” he said quietly as he pointed at the other door with his chin. Gavin glanced at it before he shrugged.

“I know,” he simply said, pushing the door open. He took the helmet from Connor’s hands and walk in, turning the lights on. “She’s worried about you, by the way.” Connor was following him, this time taking his time to look around.

“Well… I’m fine,” he said quietly. He wasn’t. Gavin had hoped that by the end of the ride, when he’d remove the helmet, he would have seen that his LED had changed color, that it would have been blue again. But it remained red. He was only fine on the outside. “She said you go talk to her every Sunday,” he added as he stopped in the entrance of the big room. Gavin put his helmet on the table, as well as his phone, his wallet and his keys. He removed his jacket as he glanced at Connor.

“Well… She’s alone most of the time, you know. Her kids don’t visit her that much. They didn’t even find a decent place for her, she has to climb all these stairs and everything… I’m just being decent,” he said. While listening to him, Connor was still looking around. There was nothing related to his family, or so it seemed. Not even pictures or anything.

“By “being decent”, you mean that you like her?” Connor asked. Gavin grimaced.

“I don’t dislike her, if that’s what _you_ mean.”

“How come you live here anyway? You hate technology that much?” Connor finally asked, the question burning his lips. He finally noticed that the chair was still on the floor. Gavin had walked towards his couch, throwing his jacket on it and sitting on the armrest as he crossed his arms. They were staring at each other from each side of the room now. Gavin shrugged.

“I don’t hate technology. I just don’t need it as much as others. And elevators are for weak people,” he mumbled. He had a laptop, a tv, a console, his phone, a tablet… It was enough. He didn’t need everything CyberLife was creating. Fuck them. “Anyway, we’re not here to talk about me, are we?” he said, wanting to change the subject. Connor’s eyes were now fixed on the floor where Hank’s body had been, and he finally got distracted by Gavin when he stopped next to the chair. “Come here,” he told Connor.

“What is it?” Connor asked as he approached, crossing his arms as he looked at the chair, not feeling comfortable.

“I was just wondering… You fought him… You… Well, almost broke my stuff but more importantly… Did you hurt him?” he asked Connor. “You made stuff fall, you struggled… You hit him, made him bleed or something? There’s… That mark, on the chair,” he said as he crouched. “That’s… Thirium, right?” he asked. It was very small, and he wasn’t sure. He had preferred not to touch it. He knew that even if it disappeared in the meantime, Connor would still be able to see it. He was actually surprised that Connor hadn’t noticed it right away when he started observing the chair. But he saw his LED again and understood why he was so distracted.

“I didn’t hurt myself,” Connor murmured.

“But that’s Thirium, right? So do you think it’s his?“

Connor approached more, crouching next to Gavin and examining the chair.  

Gavin’s heart was beating a bit faster because of the excitation. He had been afraid that by cleaning up Hank’s blood, he might have cleaned other evidences.

Connor didn’t answer, and Gavin only saw him touching the chair with two of his fingers. Next thing he knew, Connor was licking these very same fingers.

He got up on his feet, taking a step back.

“Oh my god what the fucking hell are you doing?” He almost shouted. Connor didn’t answer, he was just looking at his fingers. “I didn’t bring you here so that you could lick blood and- and my fucking furniture!”

“It’s a LM100,” he finally said, looking up at Gavin. His LED flickered and slowly became yellow. Well, that was something already.

“A LM100?”

“The model of… The android that attacked us,” Connor said as he slowly stood up, looking at his fingers again. “Sorry about that,” he mumbled, “I can analyze samples and… Anyway, I know what model we’re looking for.”

“But there’s thousands of them, isn’t there?” Gavin asked. “Not trying to be defeatist or anything, but…”

“I know,” Connor said quietly. “And he’s not working alone… But it’s something…”

After a short silence, Gavin spoke again.

“Maybe we should talk about this tomorrow, and just… You know, stop thinking about all this for now,” he concluded. “So, if you don’t feel like sucking on your fingers to finish your meal, just… wash your fucking hands already,” Gavin mumbled, still a bit troubled by what he had witnessed. As he walked away, he couldn’t help but think about Ava.

He heard the water as Connor used the sink, and he thought about how Connor had been able to tell for how long she had been dead. He preferred to stop himself from asking anything and he approached him again, seeing that he seemed very focused on his task.

“If you keep rubbing them, they’re going to fall off,” he said, leaning against the kitchen counter next to the sink. Connor directly looked at Gavin.

“That’s not possible,” he said. Gavin felt the left corner of his lips curl up as he stared at Connor. After a moment, he finally decided to tell him what was on his mind.

“That’s what you were doing in the bathroom, in Hank’s room?” he asked more quietly. Connor looked down before he finally stopped the water. He put his hand on the edges of the sink as he stared at the drain. It took him a moment to answer.

“I just… I feel dirty… I feel like it’s never going to completely come off…” he confessed. After a few seconds, he glanced at Gavin, who was still looking at him. Gavin straightened up.

“Show me your hands,” he said.

“What?”

“Come on, give me,” he said, holding out his own hands. Connor slightly frowned but did as he was told. Gavin wrapped his fingers around Connor’s wrists and examined his hands. They were completely clean, and he was sure he had washed them more times than the ones he knew about. He finally let go of his wrists and looked at him. “Do you want to take a shower, maybe? You’d feel better with that, don’t you think? And you’ll change that godawful sweatshirt of yours…”

“It’s not… mine,” Connor said as he looked down at his sweatshirt. “A nurse brought it to me… My shirt was covered in… I…”

“I’ll find you something,” Gavin directly said, seeing that Connor was getting nervous again. “The bathroom’s there,” he said, pointing at the entrance. But Connor already knew that. He watched Gavin disappear in his bedroom and he walked to the bathroom, pushing the door open and turning on the lights. Once in there, he looked at himself in the mirror for a few seconds. Finally, he pushed the door, not completely closing it, and he removed the sweatshirt.

Gavin knocked on the door right after and Connor opened it again.

“I guess it’ll fit, so-“ he said as he looked up, stopping himself. A bit surprised, he quickly looked at the t-shirt and the sweatpants he had in his hands again, not without letting his eyes glance at Connor’s body. Why was he getting flustered? What was he? A teenage boy again? For fuck’s sake, it wasn’t the first time he was seeing a man’s body. A man… He looked up at Connor again, his eyes stopping on his lips.

“Gavin?” Connor asked. Gavin blinked, meeting his eyes before looking down at the clothes. He wasn’t letting go of them. He finally did and cleared his throat, pointing at the sink unit.

“There’s towels in there,” he just said before walking away after having closed the door behind him.

 

He waited for Connor to get out of the bathroom, sitting on his couch and thinking about the situation. He sighed deeply. This was all so weird.

When Connor got out, he only turned his head to look at him. Yep, definitely really weird. Having Connor in sweatpants and a t-shirt a bit too large at the level of his shoulders was not something he would have ever imagined happening. But at least, and that comforted him, Connor’s LED was blue again. He had somehow calmed down. Gavin stood up.

“I know you don’t… sleep, per say. But I’m… exhausted,” he said, glancing at his bedroom.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. I’m used to that,” Connor said with a very little smile. As Gavin approached, he could smell coconut coming from Connor. Automatically, and without being able to control it, he smiled too. Connor noticed. Mainly because it wasn’t his usual smile. It was a comforting smile, somehow.

Connor didn’t know if it was him showing pity, or kindness, or if he even was smiling this way on purpose. But it did feel comforting, as if he was a bit safer.

“You can… watch TV, if you want. I’ve got games, I… I don’t know what you do at night but… Whatever,” Gavin said, looking anywhere but at Connor at that point.

That was his problem. He was always getting flustered. And at the same time… It would happen with Jacob, at the time, but mainly because he had lived a lot of first times with him, it had been more stressful than anything else. It wasn’t the same as what was going on now. He was clearly aware of his attraction for Connor. Yet, he had been attracted to other men, physically. He had been with other men. But he had never been shy, or feeling so awkward. But with Connor, he was starting to get all weird and feel different. And that was what was stressful, not their interactions. It was because he didn’t know why this was happening. Well, he knew… but he didn’t like to think about it.

“Good night, Gavin,” Connor simply said as he walked towards the couch.

“Yeah, you too, I guess,” he only said before walking towards his bedroom. He glanced at Connor one last time before closing his door behind him.

Connor sat on the couch, looking around. It was so calm. His eyes went on Gavin’s possessions again. He looked at everything. He turned his head to the right, noticing the guitar that was in the corner of the room, between the couch and the wall. His lips curled up. He was surprised. He moved on the couch to get closer, his foot hitting something.

He frowned, looking down. He saw an open box, half-hidden under the couch, the top of it being on the floor too.


	11. Privacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter was supposed to go way differently! Well, not exactly, that stuff was still supposed to happen, but also some other things. But I kind of got into it and it became too long for everything I had planned. So, for now you'll just have that, sorry ! Next chapter will be different, since it will be about the case again, but I still have to think some things through to do everything the right way !  
> Anyway, thank you so much for all this support, the kudos, the comments... This is incredible !

Connor picked up the top of the box to put it on the coffee table, before he picked up the box. He was going to close it when he noticed a pile of pictures in it, as well as some other things. Oh, he was curious, now. He glanced at Gavin’s door. It was closed, he wasn’t hearing any noise… But if he was checking this kind of things, didn’t it mean that looking at those pictures wasn’t right? Gavin was so private…

He put the box on the table, not able to stop himself from glancing inside. The picture of the top of the pile clearly came from the academy. He didn’t look at it much, but a bunch of officers were on it, in uniforms. His curiosity was reaching new levels and he stood up, walking away from that box. He couldn’t invade Gavin’s privacy this way… And at the same time, he had so much questions about him, about his life.

It was like with Cole’s picture. He didn’t mean to find out that truth about Hank, even if it gave him a lot of answers about his behavior. He just found it. Like with this box. But was it right to look at what was inside?

He needed to think about it for a few minutes. First, he would look at something else. At what was obvious, things Gavin wasn’t putting in a box for no one to see. Just to have a bit more information, to know how he was living.

Connor walked around the room, stopping in front of his bookshelf to see what kind of stories Gavin could be into. Most people only had electronic books, magazines… Gavin still had some real books. Probably from when he was younger. He didn’t have as many as Hank though. On the shelf, there was also a trophy. Connor read the plaque on it. He had won a kickboxing tournament back in 2019. There were also some medals hanging on the side of the shelf, on a nail he had probably put there himself. He looked at each one of them, smiling slightly.

He went in the kitchen and looked at the different takeout menus that were on the fridge, held by different magnets. He seemed to be eating a lot of Chinese food.

He then looked in the unit under the TV, to see what kind of games Gavin could be playing at. There were a few DVDs, old movies that Hank had talked about to Connor, like Terminator, Alien, The Matrix, Die Hard, Star Wars, Lord of The Rings… Nowadays, Gavin was probably using his TV to watch the movies he wanted to see, because he didn’t have any DVDs released after 2023.

Connor couldn’t help it, his eyes would always go back on the shoe box he had left on the table. It was too tempting. He sat back on the couch, joining his hands on his lap and weighed the pros and the cons. He slightly bit his lip, his eyes going down on his clothes. His fingers were playing with the edges of Gavin’s t-shirt. He had become so nice with him lately, despite still acting more aggressively in front of people… But Connor had told him that he could, that it was okay for now, because deep down he knew that Gavin had issues.

Would he be leaving that box in the middle of his living-room if he really wanted to hide it? To be fair, it wasn’t in the middle of his living room… And Connor wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place… And he clearly wasn’t supposed to be going through his stuff.

He knew he was just trying to find excuses for what he knew he was going to do.

He put the tip of his fingers on the edge of the box before pulling it towards him slowly, glancing inside.

Yes, it was a picture of Gavin at the academy on top of the pile. He couldn’t help but take it and look at it, scanning it to know the identity of the other persons that were with him. He recognized some officers he had seen in passing, but he wasn’t working in their precinct yet, so Connor didn’t know the other ones. Gavin had been transferred when promoted and beginning his work as a detective. He wasn’t really smiling on the picture. His eyes stopped on his name, Gavin Reed. He saw his birthdate, October 7th 2000, and the place he was born at. Just outside of Detroit. He turned the picture around, seeing a date written by his hand.

Connor put it aside, on the table right next to the box, and he took the next picture. It was the picture Gavin had kept of him and Jacob. On this one, things were way different. Not only was Gavin younger, but he had a grin on his face. It gave him a completely different attitude and it made Connor smile. He examined his features for a moment. There were clear signs of him being drunk, maybe that was why he seemed to be so happy. But Connor liked that smile, very much.

His eyes stopped on the boy on his lap. He noticed Gavin’s arms around his waist and bit his lip from the inside of his mouth, feeling a bit weird. The photograph, also, was different. It was a polaroid and the date was written directly under it, with “J & G” before it. J. The boy, probably? Connor looked at him again and scanned the picture. Jacob Baker, date of birth: September 16th 2000\. They were 17 on the picture, then. He looked at Gavin again and didn’t realize what was going on right away. He read his name, but he seemed blind to it for a moment. He just stared at that information without understanding it. He slightly frowned. Was there a default in his programming? Maybe because of all the anxiety and panic he had felt that evening? He closed his eyes for a few seconds, before slowly opening them again. He scanned the picture again, and the name was still right in front of his eyes. Gavin Kamski.

He didn’t understand. He took the picture from the academy in his other hand and scanned it. Gavin Reed. He looked at the picture with Jacob. Gavin Kamski. That wasn’t…

Connor kept the pictures in one hand and directly took another one. It seemed to be after a match of kickboxing, Gavin was still in his boxing shorts, with his protections on his hands and on his feet. He was with a few friends, apparently, all with their arms around each other’s shoulders. He scanned the picture directly. Again, “Gavin Kamski”. Jacob was there too, next to him, as well as a few other boys but he didn’t care for them. He put the pictures on the table and took the next one. The front was facing the box and he saw “2016” written on the back. He turned the picture to look at it.

It was the one at Ava’s place. He saw four adults, two teenage boys, a baby girl. He scanned the picture and even if he was just mimicking the action with his biocomponents, he felt like he had stopped breathing as he stared at it. It was impossible. The names were all there. Ava, with the mention of her being deceased, her parents, that Connor had met. Then, the other couple, with the name Kamski. And the teenage boys. Young, kind of smiling. Gavin Kamski and Elijah Kamski.

In a way, it made so much sense. And at the same time, it seemed so unlikely, so… unrealistic. But it explained Gavin’s attitude. At least, a part of it. His hatred for androids, for example. It probably came from the rocky relationship he was maintaining with his brother. But did that relationship became bad because of the androids, or was it something that had happened beforehand?

Connor thought about it for a second, gathering all the information Gavin had told him about his brother. He told him that the last time they saw each other face to face, he got that scar on his nose, probably because they fought. He told him he was seventeen at the time, and that his brother was sixteen.

Sixteen was the year Kamski created CyberLife, but he didn’t create androids before 2028. So, Connor was pretty sure that his hatred for androids came only from his hatred for his brother. Besides, given how he was starting to behave with Connor, it was clearly something that could change. 

It was… unbelievable, still. He slowly put the picture on the table with the others and this time, he took the box on his lap. He couldn’t help himself, he needed to see more, to learn more. From what he had learned, Gavin had changed his name at some point, probably just before entering the academy, maybe before going to college, he didn’t know. But that was why his new name was only appearing on the pictures taken after the change. And that on these ones, his old name was still what Connor could see.

He then went through the pictures. There were many of them. He had noticed how Gavin didn’t have any in his apartment, because he didn’t want to think about his family. And yet, he had kept all that? He saw pictures from when they were younger, little kids. During Christmas, during birthdays, during family reunions. As kids, the two boys were smiling, seemed close. There was a picture of Gavin blowing on six candles on a cake. For Elijah’s fifth birthday, the boy was on Gavin’s lap, in front of the cake, and Gavin had his arms around him.

There was a picture of them, Gavin must have been four, Elijah was probably around three or four then, the picture had been taken in 2005. They were walking on a little road, their backs facing the lens. A playground was ahead of them, they were holding hands. It was a sunny day, it seemed peaceful. In shorts and t-shirts, Elijah had a little hat on his head, Gavin had a sucker in his hand.

Connor stared at that particular picture for a long time. How could someone who seemed so innocent, and was innocent, at some point, become such an angry, resentful and petty person? The next picture was at the playground, with Gavin up a slide.

The other pictures were also including other celebrations. Elijah’s achievements. Always well dressed, the four Kamskis together. Connor thought that their mother looked really strict, always in a suit, head held high. But so did their father, though he looked even more cold. Stern parents. Gavin wasn’t smiling much on the pictures, and neither was Elijah, actually.

He saw a few pictures with his friends, during what seemed to be parties, other pictures at the playground, even when Gavin and Elijah were a bit older. Either they were young and playing, either they were teenagers and at a table, apparently eating with their parents. On the back of one of them, next to the year, was written a short phrase: “Annual family vacation”.

Connor noticed that when it came to Gavin’s success with his sport, the pictures were with his friends. On two, maybe three pictures, his brother was there, but not his parents. When it was for Elijah, it was always the four of them. Connor wondered if it was some sort of jealousy, or unfairness, that had driven Gavin away from Elijah, that had made him become so angry at his brother. It was all so weird. Gavin was Elijah Kamski’s brother. He took the last picture that was in the box. He looked at the date behind it. 2018. As he had been checking every date, he knew there was no picture after that year. Gavin was in a suit, and Connor thought once again that it looked good on him. He still didn’t have his scar, he wasn’t smiling, he just had his arm around Elijah’s shoulders. Elijah was in his cap and gown, and he had the usual smile Connor had seen on the other pictures. They were both pale, the same height… They didn’t exactly looked like each other, but the more Connor was seeing pictures of them together, the most he could see something that they shared, but he couldn’t really put words on what it was.

He put that last picture on the table and looked in the box. There was a watch, some bracelets from music festivals. Weirdly enough, there was a medal from a science fair. He took it between his fingers. He recognized the one he had seen on one of the pictures, it was Elijah’s. He saw an old iPhone, some pieces of paper that he chose to not read, as he had already invaded too much Gavin’s privacy. Some used picks for an electric guitar were there too. There were tickets from the movies, even from the theatre.

He looked up at Gavin’s place again, that small apartment. By cutting all ties with his family, he probably decided to get by all by himself.

He put everything back in the box and left it on the table.

He stood up and walked quietly towards Gavin’s room. He put his hand on the doorknob. He hadn’t heard the slightest noise since he had closed the door. He slowly opened it, only pushing it a little to glance inside and see if Gavin was asleep. He saw his silhouette under his covers. He was about to close the door when Gavin moved. Maybe he heard him? Maybe Connor would be able to talk to him? He only turned in his sleep and Connor silently closed the door, still processing everything he had just discovered.

 

The next morning, Gavin woke up to the sound of his phone. He grabbed it and opened a tired eye to look at it. Fowler. He had been dismissing his calls the night before, and he wasn’t about to answer right away. He was afraid. Was he going to get fired? Was he still in danger, also? He left his phone on his bed as he stood up, suddenly remembering that Connor was in his apartment. Right… He sighed, grabbed a shirt he put on as well as some pants, before he grabbed his hoodie. He opened his bedroom door, passing his fingers in his hands. The first thing he saw was Connor, sitting at the table, his eyes fixed on the floor in front of Gavin’s bedroom. Gavin knew why.

He got out, approaching the table. He noticed a cup of hot coffee in front of a chair, near Connor’s.

“Good morning, Gavin,” Connor said. But it was weird, he was still not looking at him. When he finally looked up, he met Gavin’s eyes for a second before he glanced at the coffee table in front of the couch. Gavin followed his gaze and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the box on the table. He let his hoodie fall on the floor as he walked quickly towards the table, grabbing the edge of the box and looking inside. He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on it. He slowly turned his head to glare at Connor, frowning. He let go of the box abruptly, making it almost fall off the table as he approached Connor again, who stood up as he did so.

“What the fuck, Connor?” He asked loudly. “You had no fucking right to look at my stuff!” He stopped in front of Connor, feeling an anger he couldn’t describe in him. But was it anger? Or fear? His hands were shaking, he felt like grabbing Connor by his shirt and throw him out of his apartment as much as he felt like crying. His heart was beating fast and he felt his throat burning, as well as his eyes watering. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t cry, though, he gritted his teeth, forcing his tears to stay in.

“I didn’t mean to-“

“Oh no, of course you didn’t ! You never want to do anything bad! So tell me, the box climbed on your fucking lap and showed you what was inside all by itself? Is that what fucking happened?” he asked, starting to raise his hands to push Connor. He didn’t. His hands became fists, his nails hurting his palms, and he walked away, trying to calm himself down. He was so mad. So fucking mad. He wanted to punch the wall, to throw the box across the room, to… let it all out. He didn’t want to physically hurt Connor, though. Maybe he would have, some time ago. But not now. Even though he was so mad at him.

“The box was there, open… I just- I thought-“

“What? What did you fucking think? That this was okay? That you could do something like that?” Gavin asked. Anger was speaking for him. He had always a hard time not letting it take over. That was why he had started kickboxing in the first place when he was younger. He had so much resentment already built up at that age that he needed something like that to vent. “Maybe you act like a human, but you’re not one! It’s not because you think you’re one that you can start going through my shit!”

“I know what I am!” Connor said, now getting a bit impatient as he approached Gavin too. But he had only slightly raised his voice. “There’s no excuse for what I’ve done but we could at least talk about it!”

“There’s nothing to talk about!” Gavin said. It was too much. That’s what he got for letting his guard down. And with an android, moreover. And he told himself so many times he wouldn’t fall in that trap. Now, it was probably time to rebuild his walls, even if it had to be sudden, even if they were going to be even more solid than before… He couldn’t let anyone go through them the way Connor had ever again, if it was only to have his trust being abused, if it was to be hurt. “I invite you in my fucking house, I try to help you, and that’s- that’s what you do? I thought you said you wouldn’t find anything about me behind my back!”

He was so tired. So tired of everything. Of the way he grew up, how fucked up he became because of that, of all the stress he had been accumulating for a while. He felt betrayed, at the moment. They hadn’t made any promises, but Connor knew how private he was, how he wanted to keep these things to himself. And maybe Connor was in a difficult part of his life, where he was discovering everything and trying to adjust to this new way of living, with the hate that came with it… But it gave him no right. Maybe Gavin would have talked to him about it. Eventually. So he would have known anyway. But it would have been better if it had been him making the decision, if it had been done in his own terms. He felt close to a nervous breakdown.

Connor knew he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t possibly undo what he had done. He let his curiosity take the best of him and there he was, in a difficult position. Feeling guilty was starting to be big part of his new life, apparently.

“I know I’m not a human,” he said more quietly, looking down. “I know that for that, you will never respect me, but like humans, I have flaws,” he said, this time meeting Gavin’s eyes. He was trying to stay composed, not show that he was hurt. He could usually handle Gavin’s anger. But this time, he was feeling very bad. Not because of his words, but because Gavin himself was hurt. And it was his fault. “I’m not proud of what I did but I don’t regret it,” he said more firmly. “At least, now I know. And… I-I’m fine with the truth!” he added, taking a step towards Gavin again. However, Gavin immediately took a step back.

The truth. The fucking truth. Gavin’s real truth. Not the new life he had built on lies, on secrets. On a fake personality, on a fake name, on a fake past.

“What if I’m not?” He said, still loudly, but now his voice was a bit shaky. “What if I don’t want that fucking truth?”

“Why don’t you?” Connor said, not able to fathom why Gavin would hide his real self. Was he so insecure about his capacities? Did he need to be so alone? “You should have told me the other day, when I talked to you about Elijah!”

“Don’t say his fucking name to me now, don’t you fucking talk to me about him anymore!”

“I would have understood!” Connor said, not listening to Gavin’s complaints, trying to talk some sense into him.

“I don’t owe you any fucking explanation! What would you have understood anyway, Connor, huh?” Gavin asked aggressively, looking at Connor again.

Connor didn’t move. He looked down for a second, before looking up at Gavin again. He didn’t apologize right away, though. The words came out of his mouth before he could really think about it, and he sounded more sad than angry, as if he was hurt by admitting that.

“Why you hate me,” he said more quietly, slowly looking down again.

Silence followed. Gavin looked away too, trying to breathe properly, to calm down. Fuck, he didn’t hate Connor. Probably never had. He hated androids, not for justifiable reasons. Just because he had a huge fucking grudge against his brother. And now, he was far from hating Connor. He had such mixed feelings about him at that moment. But the night before, right before falling asleep, while Connor was probably looking at all the memories he should have burnt a long time ago, he had been thinking about him. How maybe he shouldn’t have gone in his room, how he should have stayed with him. How he wanted to reassure him, to make him know he wasn’t alone.

Funny. He always wanted to be left alone. But he didn’t want for Connor to be alone lately. He didn’t want him to feel lonely. But he wanted to be the one to… be with him, so that he wouldn’t feel this way. And Gavin didn’t mind not being alone in that apartment that night, after what had happened, because it had been with him.

He relaxed his hands, his nails had left marks on his skin. He didn’t answer, though. He turned around, slowly walking towards his couch. He sat down as he let out a sigh and slowly, Connor saw him hide his face behind his hands, his elbows resting on his thighs. He took an even deeper breath and sighed more loudly. He tried to count to ten in his head.

“It must be so easy for you…” he said quietly. Connor, who was starting to think that maybe he should just leave, looked at Gavin. He slightly opened his mouth, wanting to ask what was so easy. But no sound went past his lips, and he just looked at Gavin, feeling helpless. He didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want for Gavin to raise his voice and make him see how hurt he was because of him again. “Not having a past…” Gavin almost whispered, feeling something in his throat blocking the air that wanted to come in. He quickly shut his mouth, not wanting to let a sob come out. He really was about to completely loose it. He couldn’t cry now. There was no way, not in front of him. Not in front of anyone, not ever.

Connor looked down. It was true. He didn’t have a past, he didn’t have any past issues to deal with. He was slowly building a future for himself and was only starting to have some life story. Funny, how the thought of Gavin being a part of that future crossed his mind at that moment. Maybe because he knew that that could be their last talk. He slowly walked towards the couch, not wanting to disturb Gavin.

He was surprised when Gavin turned his head to look up at him as he stopped near him. His eyes were still shining because of what was threatening to come out of them. Gavin gave him a small smile. Not a happy one, obviously, Connor wasn’t expecting anything like that. It was a pitiful smile and he looked at Connor from head to foot before meeting his eyes again.

“Tell me how that is,” he said quietly. It wasn’t a proposition, or a question, he wanted to know at that very moment. Connor seemed hesitant and he looked down.

“It’s hard to talk about something  you don’t have,” he said on the same tone. He heard Gavin chuckle and he glanced at him, who wasn’t looking at him anymore but down at his feet again.

“So I’ve finally made you speechless?” He asked, not expecting an answer. The sarcasm wasn’t there, though, or not as strongly as usual.

“I just know-“ Connor said quickly, interrupting himself and getting a glance from Gavin. He smiled sadly and slowly moved, getting on his knees to be at Gavin’s level. Gavin watched him do so and wasn’t able to meet his eyes right away. “I just know,” Connor started again, more slowly, “that I wouldn’t mind having one.” Gavin slightly narrowed his eyes before looking away.

“What do you know…” he sighed.

“It’s not because you don’t agree that I’m saying something stupid, you know,” Connor said, giving him a small smile when Gavin glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. “Maybe you think that I can’t understand what happened between you and your family… But no matter what happened to…” He looked at the box, slowly pulling it towards him. Then, he took one of the pictures that was in it and looked at it. Gavin’s sixth birthday party. “No matter what happened to that boy,” he said before looking at Gavin again. He was staring at the picture, clearly holding back his tears again. “It made you the man you are today, hasn’t it? No matter how much you lie to yourself… No matter how much you want people to believe you’re nothing more than… an asshole,” he said, making Gavin directly look at him. The right corner of Connor’s mouth curled up. Yep, he could swear. “And, I know what you must be thinking; I’m thirty-eight, I know all that, it’s not a tin can that’s going to change everything that happened and the way I think,” he said, making Gavin look away as he stopped his smile. “But I also know that… that maybe I don’t have a past, but at least I have a future. And I intend to make the best of it. Maybe you should do the same, and not dwell on what happened. Then again, I don’t know what happened, I just think… You’d be better off this way, after all this time.” he said.

Gavin slowly turned his head to look at him again.

“Would I be, really?” Gavin asked as he examined Connor’s features.

“You’re so much more than what you think you are,” Connor said quietly, being the one avoiding his eyes, now. Gavin swallowed his pit, feeling a bit flustered. He glanced at the box and finally moved, taking it in his hands and looking for something. He got the picture that had been taken when Elijah graduated college. He handed it to Connor.

“That’s… that’s the last picture we’ve ever taken together and… It’s just…” he shook his head, not finishing his thought. He glanced at the photo again. “What happened is that I did what I always do,” he said more quietly. “I fucked it all up.”

Maybe he was ready to share that part of his past. Maybe it would also make him avoid fucking it all up all over again by losing someone he was feeling close to.

.

If it hadn’t been for his father, Gavin wouldn’t have gone to that stupid celebration. Not after what had happened that day at school, not after he had argued this way with his mother, and not after telling his brother he hated him. But you didn’t argue with his father. Because he would never let that shit slide, he would have regretted it. But little did Gavin knew it would be the last evening he would spend with his brother.

He had taken his shower and was now sitting on the edge of the bathtub; his mother was sitting on a chair in front of him. He was almost ready, he just needed to button up his shirt, add the tie and his jacket. But first, obviously, his mother needed to keep up appearances. So, he was letting her put some makeup on his cheek and his chin, looking anywhere but at her.

“We’re not doing this to feel better about ourselves, Gavin,” his mother said, breaking the heavy silence that was in the room. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since that afternoon. Apparently, she had thought about what he said, but Gavin doubted she had learned anything from it. He stopped himself from sighing, finally glanced at her and he spoke quietly.

“Of course you are, mom… But I get it, it’s okay. You finally have a reason to be proud. Why wouldn’t you enjoy it and… make the best of it?”

She didn’t say anything, she just looked at her son before checking if she was done. She stood up and started to put the makeup back at its place. Gavin stood up too, buttoning his shirt. She gave him his tie.

“You’re such a cynical boy, Gavin,” she said as he took the tie to pass it around his neck. She softly passed her fingers in his hair, placing them properly, perfectly, and he glanced at her in the mirror. “Do you really believe we are such monsters? And that you will never get anything out of life?” She was speaking quietly to him and he hated that tone. As if she had never done anything wrong in her life. He looked at what he was doing as he answered.

“You tell me. I don’t have an IQ of one seventy-one, so I probably can’t figure that out either.”

“Gavin,” his mother sighed. “Why won’t you stop? Is it jealousy? You shouldn’t compare yourself to your brother.”

“Yet, you and dad do so,” he said directly. “Even though there’s not much to compare.”

“Gavin.”

“I mean, besides the fact that I’m almost eighteen and still in high school. I should be more ashamed of myself for that. And that, obviously, I don’t have much chance in college, that I get by… thanks to my brother, isn’t that right, mom? Isn’t that what you said? But it’s no surprise, I was born fucked up,” he continued. He didn’t listen to his mother saying his name again, more strictly, when he swore. “That’s probably why I like guys, I’ve not been wired the right way. Maybe that’s why we can’t get along anymore,” he said, finally glancing at her as he put his shirt’s collar properly. His mother was getting impatient but was still trying to talk to him calmly.

“We have our issues,” she said, not wanting to admit that she wasn’t getting along with her son anymore, “but you’re not helping. You’ve always been barricading yourself behind thick walls, Gavin, even when you were younger. And whenever you show your real face, you’re angry.”

Gavin grabbed his jacket that was next to him on the sink and turned to his mother. His expression was cold as he looked at her in the eye.

“And whose fault is that, mom?” He asked before walking past her and leaving the bathroom.

 

He couldn’t believe he was standing in his grandparents’ garden, for that stupid… party, or whatever the fuck that was. They had all been silent in the car. Elijah didn’t want to be there either, and from his spot, Gavin was glad to see him have no choice but talk to everyone.

He was staying near the buffet, his glass of champagne in his hand, the other one deep in his pocket. He got it out to take some of the peanuts that were in a bowl next to him as he watched his brother approach him.

“Having a good time, Eli?” he asked, slightly raising his glass. His brother also took some peanuts in his hand and started eating them distractedly as he watched the member of his family discussing with each other. He leaned a bit towards his brother as he stared at his parents.

“Who d’you think will be the first one to brag about how a success this shitshow was?” Elijah asked Gavin, making him chuckle.

“Mom, probably,” he ended up saying more quietly before sipping his drink. “To make the ride home less awkward.” They just knew how she was.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to suffer through this as much anymore now,” Elijah said. Gavin glanced at his younger brother.

“Why don’t you go away for a while? Before school starts again,” Elijah asked, still not looking at Gavin who shrugged.

“There’s the annual trip, I won’t be the one causing another drama because I don’t want to go,” he said. He heard Elijah snort and saw him shake his head.

“Don’t worry, there’s not going to be another annual family vacation,” he said quietly. Gavin frowned. “And you won’t have to suffer through these things not because you’re almost leaving, but because I am leaving in a few weeks,” he added. Gavin turned to face his brother, frowning even more.

“What? What are you talking about?” Elijah finally gave him a look.

“But… you’re sixteen,” Gavin said, incapable of fathoming how that would go. Elijah did know a lot of things, but he was spending so much time by himself in that bedroom of his that Gavin was wondering if he knew the first thing about life.

“It’s fine,” Elijah said, turning to face Gavin too. “I don’t need your protection out there, we’re not kids anymore.” He then pointed at his own cheek, looking at Gavin’s. “You’re the one who should be careful.”

“So you’re just leaving me there,” he said quietly, not paying attention to Elijah’s last remark. “With them? Just like that? You were supposed to leave when you’d turn eighteen,” he said, “you said so to mom and dad. What made you change your mind? Is it because of what I said earlier? You know it wasn’t true. I was angry, pissed at mom.”

“Don’t worry,” Elijah said. “Your words don’t affect me this way, Gavin.”

“Well, I’m glad to know that… I’ll definitely remember it,” Gavin said more quietly, looking away. “Have you told them yet?” He asked. Elijah took a step towards him to be closer.

“Those were just words thrown around,” he said, still talking about what Gavin had told him. “You’re so sensitive, Gav. So impulsive, so driven by… your need of existing.” Gavin looked at his brother again, quite surprised. Elijah was, in fact, insensitive. But he was never mean with Gavin. What was going on?

“Why are you doing this?” He asked. “If that’s one of your games, to see how far you can push me…”

“I’m not trying to keep you in my shadow, you know that, right?” Elijah asked. Gavin gritted his teeth.

“I never said you were.”

“Still, you hide yourself in it,” he said.

“What?”

“What are you doing with you life, Gav? In which direction are you going?”

“Shut up,” Gavin snapped, his free hand slightly pushing Elijah so that he would step back. He hated what was happening. “I do whatever the fuck I want.” His fingers were tightening around his glass. “I’m not hiding anywhere, and certainly not in your fucking shadow,” he said, trying to keep his voice down to avoid catching anyone’s attention. His brother just knew which buttons he had to press to provoke a reaction. “I’m not the one comparing myself to you all the fucking time!”

“See? You’re so defensive again, just because I’m telling you the truth,” Elijah said calmly.

“What you should do is get over your fucking ass, Elijah,” Gavin said. Their father looked at them, having heard Gavin. He wasn’t the only one.

“You have so much more potential than that… you could exploit it if you weren’t acting this way, what a shame, really.” Elijah continued.

“Stop talking as if you knew everything about everyone,” Gavin said, feeling tired. “You’re not one of those robots you talked to me about when we were kids. So cut the crap, what’s your problem?” He was about to lose it. It was way too much for just one day. He saw Elijah glancing at something on the side. Their father was coming their way. He looked at Gavin again and spoke more quickly.

“You’re the problem, you just don’t see it,” he said. If Gavin was applying more pressure around his glass, he was going to break it in his hand. He just needed to push him some more, to hit him where it would hurt. He looked at his brother and their eyes met for a second.

Gavin felt like he was understanding what was actually going on, but as soon as Elijah spoke again, anger blinded him. It all had to come out in some way, the rage had been building up for too long.

“No wonder even Jacob didn’t want to stay with you,” Elijah said.

It had been the last straw and next thing Gavin knew, he was fighting with his brother. Over such pitiful things, such petty words. In one day, he had heard people telling him his brother didn’t want to stay around him, he had heard his mother wonder why she had him around, and now his own brother was basically saying that it was normal for him not to be loved. In one minute, the anger he had accumulated over the years exploded.

His parents were so mad at him after that. He had locked himself in his room, just so that he could throw shit in a bag and leave without looking at his parents that were at the door, or at his brother who was observing him from his window. He had been too blinded by his anger to understand that Elijah had just handed him a way out on a silver plate.

 

Explaining all of this to Connor had came with other issues. He had to explain what had happened that day, and mention his parents’ usual behavior, without giving away too many things. He had mentioned Jacob, and he didn’t talk about him aside from when he told what Elijah had told him, but Connor wasn’t stupid. He understood the nature of their relationship. At least, what it had been, at some point. He stayed silent for a moment. Gavin hadn’t looked at him once during his story, and he wasn’t planning on meeting his eyes anytime soon.

Yet, he felt kind of relieved from something. From a weight that had been crushing him for the last twenty-years. Talking about all that, even with one person, was making he feel freer than he had felt in a very long time.

“Maybe you did yourself a favor,” Connor finally said quietly. “But maybe… maybe you should have stayed true to yourself, afterwards,” he added, staring at Gavin.

“What do you know about me, Connor, besides what I’ve told you and what you’ve looked at?” Gavin asked on the same tone, still looking away.

“That… I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for you. The real you, I mean,” Connor said, sincere. Gavin blinked, feeling something in his stomach. He was started to get flustered and as his eyes prickled again, he cleared his throat, getting up.

“Come on, it’s time to go to work,” he said. Connor looked down for a second. He was putting his walls up again. But it was fine, he had shared so much that morning, Connor couldn’t complain. He would have loved for the moment to be longer, now that Gavin was calm and seemed fine, but he stood up as well.

“Actually,” he ended up saying, realizing the way he was dressed. “Do you mind getting me home first?” He asked, turning to Gavin who had picked up his hoodie and was putting it on. “I need to take care of Sumo and… Change,” he added. Gavin sighed as he looked at him.

“What am I, your taxi, now?” He asked. Connor slightly smiled.

“Until I get the original one back,” he said.

Gavin quietly laughed. This time, it was a real laugh that made Connor’s smile bigger as he followed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to write the flashback with... not really Elijah's point of view at some point, but with some hints at what's going on. But different elements are there to show two very different attitudes coming from him, and they kind of contradict each other. I don't know I make any sense, but I'd love to know what you think about his actions. I'll tell more about it in my notes at the beginning of the next chapter if you guys want, so that I don't spoil anything for now if you want to give it a thought first !


	12. Suspension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because I'm a moron who doesn't check his work properly, I noticed hours after having posted chapter 11 that I forgot a part of Gavin's conversation with his mother. I added it, but I feel very stupid.   
> Anyway, sorry if this chapter took longer to be published, I was... well, I literally was playing Detroit all day yesterday and today, so I only finished it tonight. Last thing I did was letting Gavin kill Connor in the evidence room, so I needed to change my mind, obviously.   
> SO. a lot of talking in this chapter, I know. Next one should be promising enough, I guess you know what's gonna happen. 
> 
> btw I said I would talk more about Elijah's attitude in the flashback in the notes here but I actually describe his behavior in the middle of this chapter so there's no need for that. anyway ! enjoy and thank you for the kudos and the comments, as always !

“I don’t have any other choice but to suspend you, Gavin, effective immediately,” Fowler said, looking at the Detective on the other side of his desk.

Gavin and Connor had arrived at the precinct after a short stop at Hank’s place. Connor had given Sumo his food, he had changed and actually had drunk some Thirium to make sure his biocomponents wouldn’t give up on him anytime soon. He had then joined Gavin who had chosen to stay outside of the house while Connor was doing what he had to do, and they left for the precinct.

As soon as they arrived, though, Gavin knew what he was in for. Fowler stood up as soon as he spotted Gavin and he opened his door.

“Reed!” He said loudly and firmly. “In my office! Now!”

Gavin had looked away, taking a deep breath and sighing. He walked past the desks, exchanging a glance with Chris before climbing the stairs to enter Fowler’s office. Connor had approached, stopping near Chris’ desk. The officer had stood up.

“I don’t think this is gonna go well,” he simply told him, and they both watched as Fowler started to scold Gavin, who was simply listening, not trying to interrupt him. He only spoke when Fowler talked about his suspension.

“Wh- For how long?” He asked, not completely surprised.

“At least until the case is closed,” Fowler said.

“So what, I’m on house arrest, now?”

“Yeah and you better make sure you don’t make it worse for yourself, Gavin,” his captain said as he stood up, walking around his desk to face Gavin. “After the trick you pulled on Chris and then on me? Your behavior is disrespectful not only for your colleagues but for yourself! I don’t know what’s going on with you right now, but you don’t deserve to wear your badge at the moment. So you hand your weapon and your badge over, and you go home, Gavin, it’ll be better for everyone.”

“And Connor will work alone on the case, now that Hank’s in the hospital?” Gavin directly asked, surprising Fowler a little. “Isn’t that dangerous for him, too?” Jeffrey slightly narrowed his eyes when he heard Gavin call Connor “him”, and he got a bit closer to Gavin.

“Yesterday wouldn’t have been that dangerous if we had known where you were. They wouldn’t have directly gone to your place, and Hank probably wouldn’t have been shot!” He said. Gavin could hear his anger and he looked down at what he felt like was an accusation. “Go. Home. Now!”

Gavin swallowed his spit before finally moving, getting his gun and badge out and putting them on the desk, not looking at Fowler. He then walked away and got out of the office under Connor, Chris, and a few other officer’s gazes. Fowler got out behind him and stood there, still looking at Gavin.

“Connor,” he then said, glancing at him, “we need to talk.” He turned around and went back in.

As Gavin was about to walk past Connor and Chris, Connor quickly grabbed Gavin’s arm, stopping him. Gavin didn’t look at him, just slightly turned his head as Connor leaned a bit.

“Could you wait for me?” He asked quietly. “Just for a minute,” he added. Gavin took a moment before telling him to meet him outside when he was done. Chris slightly frowned, glancing at Connor’s hand on Gavin’s arm, and he was very surprised. Well, it was like the night before, at the hospital. What were those two up to? Something was going on, or Gavin would never have been acting like that with Connor.

Connor let go of Gavin and walked in Fowler’s office. He was sitting at his desk again, busy on his terminal. Connor closed the door behind him and approached the desk.

“You wanted to see me, sir?”

“You’re off the case, Connor,” Fowler only said before finally looking at Connor, joining his hands on his desk. He could see the surprise on Connor face, and the way he looked away as he tried to hide his feelings about this.

“May I ask why?” He then asked politely. His eyes stopped on the desk, where Gavin’s gun and badge were still where he had put them.

“The FBI is taking over,” Fowler started to explain. “I can’t do anything about this and I don’t think I want to, this time. I have three dead officers, two others that were attacked, Detective Reed might have been killed last night… I didn’t let anyone know about the connections between the three first cases at first, but after Hank got shot… I’m not taking any risks anymore. I don’t want you to try anything, you hear me?”

Connor could understand where he was coming from, and there was no point in arguing with Jeffrey Fowler anyway. He simply nodded before finally looking at him again.

“Is there a specific case you want me to work on, then?” he asked, feeling a bit frustrated.

“No. Take a few days, Connor. Help Hank get back on his feet and come back when we’re done with this.”

A bit surprised, Connor didn’t say anything at first before he slightly inclined his head to show that he was accepting what was going on, and he left without another word.

 

When he got out of the precinct, he saw Gavin right in front of it. He had moved his bike from the parking and was leaning against it, his arms crossed. He was seemingly frustrated, still, and his helmet was on his seat. He was ready to leave.

Connor approached him and hid his hands in his pockets, looking a bit embarrassed.

“It seems like I’m not going to be out here only for a minute… I’m off the case,” he said. Gavin frowned and straightened up a little.

“What?” He asked, stunned.

“The FBI is taking over. The Captain gave me some time to rest and help Hank. I’m too close to this, now,” he said before smiling a little. Gavin wasn’t sure if it was to reassure him that it was fine, or if it was because he actually really was fine about this.

“Well, don’t let it ruin your day,” he said sarcastically. “So what, you’re just giving up? You’re telling me you don’t want to catch the asshole that shot Hank? Aren’t you frustrated?” He asked. Connor didn’t answer but looked away. He seemed hesitant. “Wait a minute,” Gavin said, an amused smile forming on his lips. He approached Connor a bit more. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on taking care of this alone?”

Connor shared his little smile, finally glancing at him and meeting his eyes.

“Do I have a choice?” he asked. Gavin bit his lower lip, his eyes slowly moving down on Connor’s. He liked that mind set. “We have more information than they have. At least, we have what you showed me. We know the model of at least one of them… it’s not in any report. They’re not going to find anything with what they have.”

“Alright,” Gavin said, turning around. He took his helmet in his hands, turned, and threw it at Connor who caught it. “Hop on, we’re going for a ride,” he said, getting on his bike and starting it.

 

As they approached Hank’s hospital room, they were still debating on whether or not they should be telling him about what had just happened at the precinct, but also if they should be acting a certain way in front of him.

“I hate lying to him,” Connor whispered. They were walking close to each other, speaking quietly. “And… it’s not that bad, I mean, I don’t know what issues you two have had in the past, but maybe this will help, and you’ll finally get along.”

“Or he’s going to be mad at you for spending time with me and working on this case with me. You’re his partner, not mine,” Gavin said, sounding a bit more irritated than Connor. “I’m not asking you to wait for him to wake up and directly scream that we hate each other or whatever! I’m just saying… act naturally, I don’t need another series of questions today,” he said. Connor felt a bit bad about that, but he was still annoyed by the idea of hiding everything.

“I know that’s not how you want it to go down but… I already lied to him about a few things. About the other night, at the gym, for other stuff… Like the other day, I told him you walked home alone and that I saw you, not that I was with you, because he found it suspicious that I knew about it,” he explained. Gavin stopped, grabbing Connor’s arm to make him turn and look at him.

“If you hate lying to him so much, why haven’t you told him anything before? You had occasions to do so, apparently. So why did you hide it?” Gavin asked. Connor avoided his gaze and shrugged.

“I don’t know, I just… didn’t want to share y-“ he stopped for a second, finally glancing at Gavin, “I guess I thought he’d be angry.” Gavin stared at him for a moment before letting go of his arm.

“See? Now he’s in a hospital bed, don’t go and make him have a seizure. Just… Play it cool, as if everything was… as if nothing happened.” This time, Connor was the one grabbing his arm.

“But things did happen,” he said. “How are we going to explain that you’re there? That I stayed at your place yesterday? Because we’ll have to tell him about the Thirium and the LM100.” Gavin sighed.

“You’re putting way too much thought into this. You just… avoid telling him some details. I’m here because I’m under your surveillance, because I disobeyed direct orders and that Fowler wants to make sure I’m being watched. And since Hank’s been hurt, he thought maybe I could help, too,” he started saying. Connor was staring at him, not sure if he liked how easily Gavin could come up with all this. “And you don’t have to tell him that you stayed at my place. For all he knows, he’s been shot while you were wrestling with that asshole. You could have easily found the blood right after or something.” Gavin raised his hand, giving Connor two soft taps on his left temple with two of his fingers. “Think.”

Gavin found the pout Connor was pulling… cute, but he didn’t let himself get distracted. He approached Hank’s door and put his hand against it, looking at Connor again.

“Come on, now, it’s going to be fine. We have to wait for him to wake up anyway. We’ll review what we have, and we’ll find a solution,” he said as he pushed the door open. They entered, still whispering about the situation before they both stopped when they noticed Hank.

He was awake alright, sitting on his bed. A nurse was taking care of checking his wound while he seemed to be eating jello. There was a plate next to his bed and he had already eaten, it was his dessert. The new duo was looking at Hank, and the lieutenant was staring right back at them. The nurse only glanced at them before focusing on what she was doing, and the officer that was stationed in his room stood up.

He told them that he would go, now that they were here and that he was awake, but they didn’t react, feeling like they had been caught red-handed. The nurse was done and she approached Connor. He finally focused on her when she told him about Hank’s condition and that he needed to rest. Gavin slowly walked in the room, approaching the chair near Hank’s bed and pulling it away a little before sitting down. They were staring at each other and when the nurse finally left, Connor felt uncomfortable.

“Sorry I wasn’t there,” he said quietly, finally catching Hank’s attention. “I needed to go to the precinct and…” he looked down before approaching the other side of the bed. He put his hand on Hank’s shoulder and smiled. “I’m glad you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Hank finally started to eat his jello again, glancing at Gavin.

“I’m good, son,” he muttered, not liking to be taken care of and have people always asking how he was doing. “But that’s a duo I wasn’t expecting to see. What the fuck are you doing here, Gavin?” Hank asked. There wasn’t really any animosity in his tone, but he did look at Gavin in a way that didn’t hide his feelings for the man.

“He’ll be helping on the case,” Connor said before Gavin could answer. Hank frowned and looked at Connor with a “what is this fucking nonsense” kind of expression.

“I’m sorry, he will what, now?”

“Well, he’s concerned. He’s the one who’s targeted,” Connor said more quietly.

“And I’m the one in a hospital bed because he was fucking reckless,” Hank said. Gavin stopped looking at them and glanced at the windows, pursing his lips. “Where the fuck were you, yesterday?” Hank asked him more vehemently.

“It’s none of your business,” Gavin said very calmly, with a drawl and not looking at Hank at first, but then slowly directing his gaze towards him. Oh. Now, Connor could see the resemblance with his brother. It suddenly struck him. It seemed so obvious.

“I’m not going to work with you if you’re not completely honest with me in return,” Hank said directly, feeling already irritated by his presence. So was Gavin, but they both had to make an effort if they wanted this to work. Gavin sighed.

“I visit my family annually, outside of Detroit,” he said more quietly. Connor directly frowned. It didn’t make any sense. Was he lying to Hank? From what Connor knew, now, there was no way Gavin was still visiting even his parents. Gavin glanced at Connor, meeting his eyes for a second. Something was up, but Connor couldn’t yet tell what it was. There was a meaning behind his words… Slowly, he stopped frowning as he understood. Annually, huh? Gavin looked away again, feeling a bit flustered but not showing it, clenching his jaw to keep a straight face.

“Why did you need to blow off Chris, then, if you were just doing that? It’s not like he was going to invite himself in your home,” Hank said, not really having it.

“It’s fucking personal,” Gavin said a bit more coldly as he looked at Hank again.

“I think,” Connor finally said, feeling the tension rising, “that we shouldn’t waste any more time on this, really…” Gavin only glanced at him and before Hank could protest, he continued. “Actually, Hank, I learned something new,” he said, sitting on the edge of his bed, facing him. “The android that shot you, it was a LM100. He escaped but… I’m sure of it.”

“How can you be?” Hank asked, suddenly over his conversation with Gavin. Connor was right, they needed to focus on the case, and he didn’t really have a choice but to accept Gavin’s presence.

“Detective Reed found something yesterday, in his apartment,” Connor said. Gavin felt weird, being called “Detective Reed” again by Connor. “His blood. He hurt himself while we fought.” Hank couldn’t help but slightly smile as he glanced at Gavin.

“You analyzed the blood, did you?”

“Mother of god,” Gavin said, putting one hand on his eyes. “I was trying to forget that.”

“Hey!” Connor said as he stood up, a bit offended. “Whatever you two might think, it’s helpful!” Hank couldn’t help but quietly laugh before regretting it, coughing and putting a hand on his side, without touching his wound. That calmed Connor down right away and he sat again, putting his hand on Hank’s arm.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Hank simply said, taking a deep breath. He actually looked really tired. “So, what do you propose?” He asked Connor.

“Well, we’re not sure how to track him down, now… We don’t know anything about his associates, if there’s more than three of them, or… anything, really.”

“There’s probably too many models, also. We’re not going to track down every single LM100 that was released and check if they’re injured or whatever…” Gavin added. “It’d take way more than a few days.”

“But aren’t they creating that register…” Hank said, thinking. “Like for humans, you know,” he said, looking at Connor, “when you’re born, you have that birth certificate and you’re registered so that there’s this proof you exist, right? They’re doing kind of a similar thing with androids, now that there’s equal rights, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, I heard about it on the news,” Gavin said, looking at Connor too.

“Yes, Markus…” Connor began, thinking about it. “He’s been having meetings with President Warren and… a lot of people, actually, so that androids can have properties, jobs with salaries and everything. But it’s really new, not every single android is registered yet, a lot of them are still homeless,” he said.

“That’s the thing, isn’t it?” Hank said. “The android that attacked us, he looked… disheveled, dirty… I didn’t get a good look at him but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was still roaming the streets.”

“So you’re thinking about an underground group?” Connor asked.

“That’s a possibility,” Hank said.

“Shit, we have street gangs made of androids now?” Gavin asked, slightly shaking his head.

“I mean… it seems like they want retribution. After what the police and the soldiers did to them, with the camps and the executions on sight…” Connor said quietly. He exchanged a glance with Gavin who quickly looked away.

“So, what should we do? Ask Markus if he’s got information about this? Tell us which LM100 are registered? There would still be many of them out there.” Gavin said.

“I could contact him, we’ve got nothing to lose, maybe we’d at least learn something,” Connor said.

“But then what? We need to know how to track down any homeless android groups. If they even stay together… We don’t even know what models the other two are,” Gavin continued. “Don’t we have any way to know how many LM100 are in the area or whatever?”

“I mean… we could try and contact CyberLife, but the last time I went there…” Connor said, looking at Hank. “They wouldn’t have minded killing me,” he said more quietly.

“What about Kamski?” Hank asked. Both Gavin and Connor glanced at him before looking at each other.

“What about him?” Gavin couldn’t help but ask, a bit more coldly already. Hank glanced at him, annoyed.

“Well, he created them, didn’t he?” he said. “We already went to him for help once, maybe he’ll accept to receive visitors again,” he then said, looking at Connor. “He must know a way to actually track the androids. He definitely knew way more about deviants than he lead on. If you had shot that girl, I’m sure we would have learned whatever we wanted. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew how to find them, or how they could be reacting to the situation, and where they’d hide. I don’t know, that’s kind of the best we’ve got right now!” Connor looked uneasy and Gavin was refusing to look at them.

“Even if he does know-“ Gavin started before interrupting himself, clearly trying to find his words, to find something to refuse the idea. “It’s not because the case is connected to androids that we need to go see the fucking smartass that created them,” he let out, feeling irritated. Hank sighed and looked at Connor.

“Are you sure you wanna work with him? It’s not too late to change your mind,” he said.

“Actually, it is,” Connor said quietly.

“Don’t-“ Gavin started, almost getting up from his seat. But Connor waved his hand to tell him to stop. Surprisingly enough, Gavin didn’t get angry by that, and actually listened to Connor. He looked annoyed, as he suddenly leaned back on his seat and crossed his arms, but Hank was quite surprised.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Connor started explaining about Gavin being suspended, and how the case was being taken care of by the FBI. Hank wasn’t happy with that, and wasn’t happy either with Gavin and Connor breaking protocol. But it wasn’t the first time for Connor, wasn’t it? He even helped him get access to the evidence room when they weren’t supposed to work on the deviant case anymore…

“Alright,” he sighed. “This is the last time you pull something like that, Connor!” He then added, raising his finger towards Connor who slightly nodded. “I don’t need to get fired because of you two.”

“No, right now, you need to rest,” Connor said quietly. Before Hank could say that he shouldn’t tell him what he should be doing, Connor stood up and continued. “We will… try and see if we can talk to Kamski,” he said as Gavin gritted his teeth. “In the meantime, your nurse said we couldn’t bother you for too long. We’ll come back later, alright? I’ll call you if we learn anything,” he said before already walking towards the door. Hank was almost certain that if there wasn’t the case, Connor would stay with him all day long. He slightly shook his head as he watched Connor walking away before noticing that Gavin was doing the same, not following him.

“The fuck you’re waiting for?” Hank asked, getting a nasty glance from Gavin who finally stood up to leave as well.

 

Both Gavin and Connor stayed silent until they got out of the hospital. At that point, Gavin started to walk a bit faster towards his bike.

“Gavin,” Connor tried. Gavin stopped and turned around.

“I’m not going to see him! I’d rather we stop working on this case and let the dumbasses from the FBI take care of it!” He directly said, knowing what Connor wanted to talk about.

“It wasn’t my idea, okay?” Connor said, seeing that Gavin was becoming aggressive again. He wanted to avoid having a talk like the one they had that morning. “And they probably won’t find anything anyway! But he-!” It was so hard. How could Connor talk about Elijah without Gavin losing it? It was such a touchy subject, Gavin clearly still had a lot of things to sort out about it. “If they go to him, he will know you’re in danger. Maybe he’ll try to reach out, what if he does?”

“Yeah,” Gavin said, taking a step towards Connor, “what if he does? I don’t need that! I really don’t!”

“It’s not just about you!” Connor said, knowing that Gavin wasn’t the only cop in danger. “Maybe he won’t even speak to them, but to us, I’m sure he would! Lives are at stake, here!”

“What’s it to you, Connor? You’re not the one in danger. Why do you care so much?” Gavin asked. He knew it was pointless. Of course, Connor cared. It was his job, he probably cared more than Gavin ever did, because he was just like that. He was that nice guy that wanted to help everyone.

“Because I care about you!” Connor let out, a bit louder as his LED flickered red for a second. Gavin blinked, not expecting that, and Connor seemed a bit disrupted as well. There was a short moment of silence before Connor regained his composure. “Don’t you…? Don’t you care about your colleagues? Don’t you care about… yourself?” he asked more quietly.

“I… It’s not the point!” Gavin said. He was quieter too, but he was obviously frustrated because he didn’t have any excuse to avoid this conversation, to be right. “Maybe he won’t help anyway… I can’t just…”

“Then I’ll go alone, it’s fine,” Connor insisted.

“So that he can play mind games with you again?” Gavin asked, his expression showing that the thought was making him feel sick.  

“I can handle my own! I’m not a kid, Gavin!”

“And he’s never been one, Connor! I know him, he… He’s always been so- above everything even remotely normal for his age!” Gavin said, annoyed.

“He… didn’t seem above you on those pictures,” Connor said hesitantly.

“Forget the fucking pictures!” Gavin said, about to throw his hands in the air. But they didn’t need to catch everyone’s attention, and he was watching his tone. “It’s not who he is! You don’t know what he’s capable of! You don’t know how he was like with me, you don’t- you don’t know him the way I do! I can’t let you go there alone but I can’t… I can’t go see him,” he said, resigned. “Don’t make me do that, Connor, please, don’t…” he begged, almost whispering.

“Okay”, Connor said after a moment of silence, staring at Gavin.

“What?” Gavin asked, visibly surprised he had complied so easily.

“I won’t. I won’t force you.”

 

Surprisingly enough, after that, as they both got on Gavin’s bike, Connor noticed that he was directly going to his place, not dropping Connor off at Hank’s house. He didn’t mind. Spending time with Gavin was fine.

Yet, as they arrived in his street, Gavin didn’t stop. He only did so after taking a turn, away from his building. Connor removed Gavin’s helmet, staying behind him on the bike.

“What’s going on?” He asked directly, slightly moving to see Gavin’s face as he turned his head a little to talk to Connor.

“I’m supposed to be on house arrest,” he said, staring at the sidewalk. “But Chris isn’t the one watching my building. If I’m not mistaken, it was the FBI,” he said. He had seen one of their black cars, or what seemed to be one. He didn’t want to take any risk. If they had to work on that case, there was no way he was going back to his building. He wouldn’t be able to leave it again, or not without being followed closely.

“Should we go to my place, then?” Connor directly asked, not hesitating for a second. Gavin glanced at him and thought about it for a moment.

“You’re sure it’s fine? Hank will lose it if he knows about it.”

“He’ll understand,” Connor said, slightly frowning as he thought about it. “Hank is more understanding than what you seem to think. If you knew him better, you’d know,” Connor then said as he looked at Gavin again, a little smile on his face. Gavin slightly shook his head as he rolled his eyes.

“Okay, then.”

 

Hank’s house was definitely not what Gavin had pictured. He had seen it earlier, when he had driven Connor there that morning, but he had never seen what was inside. Maybe he imagined it being more… dirty, or something like that. With bottles of alcohol on the floor and with a lot of dishes in the kitchen sink, maybe.

Obviously, Connor had been taking care of that, or Gavin would have seen just that. Ever since he had been living there, he had made a point of honor to keep that place clean and… well, different. The first thing Hank needed to start recovering from everything was a healthy environment. When they entered, Connor directly closed Hank’s bedroom door, greeted Sumo and let the dog sniff Gavin.

“He’s sweet, you don’t have to worry,” Connor said as he walked in the house, not noticing that Sumo was already rubbing his nose against Gavin’s leg.

“Clearly…” Well, Gavin was a cat person. He petted Sumo, though, so that maybe that huge dog would leave him alone. He then walked in and looked around, not really minding the fact that he wasn’t at his place. He was surprised by everything related to jazz in that house. Everyone in the precinct had already heard Hank’s music when he was in his car, and it definitely wasn’t jazz.

Connor didn’t really mind Gavin looking around, but he did intervene when Gavin took Cole’s picture to look at it.

“Don’t-“ Connor said, quickly walking towards Gavin and taking the picture back, placing it on the fireplace again. “Don’t move it,” he said more quietly. Gavin glanced at Connor.

“I didn’t mean…” he said more quietly. He took a deep breath and didn’t finish his phrase as he watched Connor place the picture exactly the way it was before.

“It’s fine, just… I don’t feel like…” It wasn’t like, from the hospital, Hank would suddenly know that Gavin looked at it. But Connor didn’t feel like it was right. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he could still catch Hank staring blankly at that picture some nights, maybe because it was the source of all his pain. He didn’t like other people having it in their hands. It just made him suddenly very protective. He finally glanced at Gavin. He slightly opened his mouth but didn’t ask his question.

“I knew,” Gavin said as he walked towards the couch, where Sumo had already decided to lay down. He sat on the armrest and looked at Connor, who wasn’t saying anything. “Probably everyone in the precinct know,” he added. Connor slightly nodded as he crossed his arms, feeling uneasy. “We just don’t ever talk about it, obviously. That’s not something…”

Even if Gavin had always been an asshole with Hank, he had never brought up his son once. He wasn’t heartless, he wasn’t crazy, and he himself would have punched anyone who could have annoyed Hank with that in front of him. No matter how much he didn’t like Hank. You had to be crazy to do such a thing. Gavin wasn’t a saint, especially when it came to Hank’s alcoholism. They could just never get along, and it was one of Hank’s weak spot. And Gavin had learned where he could aim to harm someone, without ever giving a fatal hit, though.

“That’s what you meant, when you talked to me about family, didn’t you?” He then asked Connor who looked away. “When you told me it could destroy you?”

“Maybe…” Connor let out quietly as he shrugged.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it,” Gavin said. “I mean, you’re fine with me not wanting to talk about Elijah,” he said. God, it felt so weird hearing himself say that name. He hadn’t pronounced it in so long. Probably for at least the last decade. Connor glanced at him.

“I didn’t mean to bother you with him again, earlier.”

“I know,” Gavin said as he waved his hand. He glanced at Sumo again, trying to distract himself from the tension he could feel in his body. He slowly moved his hand, starting to pet Sumo’s head. “It was inevitable, after Hank’s idea,” he said. “I just… whenever a conversation’s about him, I just get so mad,” he said quietly, sadly smiling to himself.

Connor slightly walked towards Gavin, his arms still crossed and looking at Sumo too.

What would you have done if I didn’t know the truth? Because you still wouldn’t have accepted, right?” He asked, knowing Gavin would have had to find another excuse not to go see Elijah.

And he probably wouldn’t have found any. And if Connor had gone alone, Elijah would have probably used the opportunity to tell him about them being related. Because Connor would have probably mentioned who was targeted. And he would have jumped on the occasion.

“I don’t know,” Gavin said. “I don’t want to think about it.”

They stayed silent for a moment.

“I know what happened,” Connor said. “Well, I know what you told me. And what he said to you at the time. But… do you think one day, even in years, I don’t know, maybe…”

“I could get past it?” Gavin asked. “I don’t know, I don’t…”

“Want to think about it either?” Connor asked. They both glanced at each other for a split second before looking at Sumo again.

“I don’t like to think about it.”

“Why not?” Connor asked. Gavin sighed. “You don’t have to tell me, it’s fine,” Connor added.

“It’s just-“ Gavin began. “It’s because I don’t know why. I guess I don’t want to go back that road and…”

Despite all the pain that had come with the situation, Gavin had understood, later, that Elijah had done him a big favor with that fight. It had helped him tremendously; it gave him the courage to leave. It made him take that final decision and nothing had been the same ever since, not even when Gavin went back home. Everything had been so different. And despite the loneliness, he was probably happier now than he ever had been. He was alone, yes, but he was far away from the people that were hurting him. Alone but far away from the people surrounding him without acknowledging him. He was alone too, before, but at least, some of his pain had left him.

But not entirely. Or the day before, he wouldn’t have been outside the city, relieving old memories and crying alone in the dark and cold air of the night. He would have been home, and maybe he would have been killed.

Yet, the realization of Elijah helping him out had come with something else. It had felt like he had just been one of Elijah’s experiments. Being observed at all times… Elijah knew how to trigger his anger, he knew how he would react, what would make him lose his mind, what would push him too far. It felt like he was just a tool in his research on human’s behavior. Probably for his robots or something… he had always been interested in artificial intelligence, he used to talk about it to Gavin when they were younger. Probably until he became one of his subjects. And it made Gavin feel so sick. Even though, in a way, he didn’t doubt his brother’s love. He was just different.

And Gavin loved his little brother. So much. That was probably why it was still hurting him so bad and so deeply. But he knew that if he ever was in a situation where Elijah was in danger right in front of him, he would sacrifice himself without any second thought.

“Can I ask you something else?” Connor asked. Gavin blinked, getting out of his reverie and noticing that Connor was on his knees in front of the couch, petting Sumo too.

“Depends,” Gavin said quietly, getting a glance from Connor and meeting his eyes. “What’s it about?”

Connor seemed hesitant for a moment.

“Jacob,” he finally let out. Gavin was surprised, definitely not expecting that.

“What about him?” he just asked. He was taken aback, yes, but not really annoyed nor disturbed. He didn’t feel anything for Jacob, no matter how close they had been. He had moved on so long ago, it was fine.

“You were…” Connor began, searching for the right words as he stared at Sumo again. “From what I understood with your own words and the pictures, obviously, correct me if I’m wrong but… you two were a thing, right?” he finally asked, still not looking at him. He only did when Gavin quietly laughed. “What?”

“A thing…” Gavin said, looking at Connor with a small smile on his face. He had such a different expression, suddenly. He looked relaxed, calm, amused, even. That smile wasn’t mocking Connor, and it wasn’t just because he was amused. It looked like he was… touched? “It’s just… the way you say it,” he added, not really explaining himself. Connor felt a bit embarrassed.

“Am I wrong?” He asked quietly, strangely feeling a difference in temperature in his cheeks. Gavin let out a deep breath, but it wasn’t a sigh. It looked like he was just thinking about it.

“I wouldn’t know how to explain that to you,” he said, honest. “It was complicated, and I was really young when it all started.” He didn’t know why, but he felt like this time, he wanted to share things, and it was thus easier to do so.

“How old?”

“Fifteen,” he said, thinking about that afternoon in his bedroom. “It didn’t last, if that’s what you want to know,” he added, looking at Connor again, the same little smile on his face. It had always been good nostalgia. “It stopped after a short month,” Connor slightly frowned.

“But on that picture… you were seventeen,” he said, Gavin knowing exactly what picture he was talking about.

“So?” he asked, slightly tilting his head on the side.

“Well,” Connor said, disturbed by how calm Gavin was, “you were in each other arms… You were holding him and… I thought…” Again with the quiet laugh. Connor wondered if what he was saying was that ridiculous, and because that attitude was too different, he didn’t know what to expect.

“Yeah, but we weren’t together. We stayed close, it can happen,” he said. “Every break up doesn’t end up in drama. Jacob wasn’t like that, and neither was I,” he said. “Before dating, we were close friends. I wasn’t about to lose that, at the time. Now, I don’t even know what he’s doing with his life, we don’t talk anymore,” he explained.

“But why did you break up?” Connor asked, curious. “Why was it complicated?” This time, Gavin took his time to think about his answer.

“Because we were boys,” he finally said. “We were two boys. Not just a boy and a girl or whatever... And even if people were more open-minded at that time, it was still difficult to accept yourself, sometimes. So if you’re not accepted by others either like, by your father, for example… it’s hard to fully act on your feelings,” he simply said. Connor thought about the two girls from the Eden Club before glancing at Gavin again.

“Oh…” he simply said at first. “Were you the one not accepting yourself, then? Or was it Jacob?” he asked. Gavin smiled again, but this time because of the lack of tact Connor was showing. He shrugged.

“That would be me. But like I said, I was young, I didn’t know better. Because of that, I hurt him I guess, so we stopped. I changed after some time. It became easier. We just weren’t meant to end up together,” he continued. Connor frowned again.

“Do you believe… that some people are meant to be together, then?”

Gavin stared at Connor for a few seconds as he considered the question.

“I believe I didn’t love Jacob. I loved the affection, the way he cared about me. But that was because I didn’t… have that from some other people. But I never fell in love with him.”

“How do you know you never did?” Connor asked, not sure he understood the subtility of this kind of feelings. It sounded complicated, and he wondered if he would ever know what it felt like. “How do you know if you love someone?” Gavin shrugged.

“They say that when you’re in love… you just know it,” he said quietly.

“Who?”

“What?”

“You said that’s what they say. How can they be sure? Who are they?” Connor asked. Gavin’s lips slightly curled up again and he slowly shook his head as he stared at Connor, without really looking at him.

“I don’t know,” he whispered. “Everyone that’s ever been in love, I guess…”

There was a long silence again, during which Gavin glanced around. At the kitchen, the fireplace, the records, the coffee table. He spotted his own clothes, that Connor had folded that morning as he changed to go to work. He looked at Sumo again, and then, his eyes fell on Connor’s face. The android was focused on the dog again, and Gavin observed him petting Sumo for a moment, before talking again.

“I’ll think about going to see Elijah. But I’m not promising anything.”


	13. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay it took me a few days to figure out how this would go and I wrote almost the entire conversation between them in the middle of the night.   
> Anyway, to be perfectly honest the story is slowly coming to an end. There will be a few more chapters (I'm not sure how many yet but there's probably going to be a total of 16, maybe 17, I think it will depend on the lenght of the events).   
> I'm on the side already working on a bigger project, with way more characters but still with Convin because they're just perfect and that's the tea. I'm not going to post anything as long as I'm not done with this story, and I still have to figure a lot of things when it comes to the plot, but it should be interesting so if you guys are interested, you can follow me on tumblr to know when that story begins (@plastic--prick). 
> 
> Anyway, I'm very anxious about this chapter, I hope you guys will like it. I hope Elijah is not too ooc? He's such a special character with such a different mindset and just... ugh i love him but he's so fucking difficult to write -i love that too actually- so I hope you guys will enjoy this !
> 
> And finally, I hope there are not too many spelling mistakes and stuff. I have to leave in ten minutes but I wanted to post the chapter so bad... I didn't have time to check it entirely. I will do so when I'll come back to my place. ANYWAY. ENJOY.

Gavin woke up with a start, suddenly opening his eyes, his vision being a bit blurry. He blinked a few times before he yawned. He then got more comfy as he slightly moved. He had been sitting on this couch for the last few hours after falling asleep without even noticing it. His arms were crossed, and he let his head slowly fall on the side again, resting against whatever he had unconsciously been using as a pillow. He closed his eyes again, breathing deeply as Sumo moved against his legs. Sumo…

He opened his eyes again. He wasn’t at his place. It was the morning and he wasn’t resting against a pillow at all. He straightened up a bit, looking at Connor. He had fallen asleep without noticing it and had ended up spending the night with his head on his shoulder.

Now. It would have been awkward if Connor had been staring at him as he woke up. But Connor wasn’t, his eyes were closed. Gavin glanced around. Connor had turned off the TV, probably some time after noticing Gavin had fallen asleep. The house was very quiet, the sunlight getting in through the windows, and Sumo had moved to eat before laying at their feet.

Gavin looked at Connor again and frowned. He wasn’t sleeping, right? Androids didn’t need to sleep. He leaned above Connor, not touching him, just to check his LED on the other side of his face. Blue. Well, he guessed he was alright. He wasn’t sure about what he should do. He put his hand on Connor’s thigh, slightly shaking it.

“Connor?” he said, his voice being a bit hoarse. Connor didn’t react, and he did it again. “Hey, Connor!” he said a bit louder. And finally, Connor reacted, opening his eyes and blinking a few times. His LED flickered yellow before becoming blue again as his gaze slowly moved to stop on Gavin. He didn’t say anything at first, his program still initializing.

“Is it morning already?” he then asked as he looked around, quite surprised. “Hank is right, time flies when you sleep…” he added more quietly.

“What the fuck-?” Gavin simply said, surprised. “You… You don’t have to actually sleep, do you?” he then asked, skeptical.

“Oh, no,” Connor said with a small smile. “But I have this sleep mode in my program,” he explained, making Gavin slightly frown. “I can kind of shut down for a while I guess. I never do so. I usually stay awake all night long. It felt good to… stop thinking, for a moment,” he said. It felt good to let himself rest. He wasn’t tired, but his body was never stopping. It was always working, pumping the Thirium through it and making all these biocomponents work. And his thoughts would never stop either. So many information was coming to him every single second. And stopping for a few hours… It was weird, probably because it was the first time he was doing so, but it wasn’t that bad.

“Yeah…” Gavin said, still very taken aback by all this. It was usually the way he felt. He often couldn’t wait to find his bed again so that he would stop thinking so much. At least, when his thoughts and anxiety weren’t keeping him awake, or when he wasn’t dreaming about stuff that was bothering him. But Connor probably wouldn’t understand that, Gavin doubted he had a program made for him to be able to dream as well.

“I saw you sleeping and, after a couple of hours doing nothing, I thought I would try. Are you fully rested?” Connor asked very naturally. “What is it?” he then asked when Gavin didn’t answer, slightly tilting his head. After a short moment, Gavin blinked and slightly moved backwards on the couch, getting back his hand that was still on Connor’s thigh.

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” he said. “I… Yeah, I’m… rested, I guess. A lot has been happening, I guess I was more tired than I expected,” he said as he stood up, feeling uncomfortable. “I didn’t mean to, you know.”

“Oh, I didn’t mind,” Connor said, knowing that Gavin was talking about falling asleep against him. “At least, you seemed to sleep well,” he added as he stood up too and directly walking towards the kitchen. “Coffee, I guess?”

Gavin just stared as Connor directly started to prepare a cup for him.

 

Connor had a talk with Markus, while Gavin was in the shower, confronting himself under the water, still debating if going to see his brother was something he was actually going to go through with. When he got out of the bathroom, in his jeans and the towel on his shoulders, he walked towards the coffee table to take the t-shirt he had given Connor the other day.

“Did you get a hold of Markus?” he asked as he put his towel on the couch and unfolded his shirt.

“Yes,” Connor said, still leaning against the kitchen’s counter as he looked at Gavin. His eyes slowly went down on his side as he finally saw his tattoo and he quickly analyzed it, seeing when it was done and by whom. It was the skeletal half of a Black Plague Doctor, its overcoat looking used and teared. His bird-like beak mask was hiding his face and its wide-brimmed hat was teared on the top, making it look like a crown. His skeletal fingers were around a scythe on which was a rosary, reeled around the stick. It seemed to Connor that the ripped overcoat’s edge was forming, in some places, pieces of gears, from which strings were hanging.

“So?” Gavin asked. Connor’s eyes suddenly went back up on Gavin’s face as he realized he hadn’t continued. Gavin put the shirt on and glanced at Connor.

“He said that… Um, they are, indeed, registering androids and they’ve been looking for those that live in the streets but some of them still hide, they are still afraid. They don’t trust humans and… he wasn’t really able to help me, but he said that if he was made aware of anything, he would contact me right away,” he explained. Gavin mumbled something to himself, that Connor didn’t hear. “You often do that…” Connor said quietly.

“Do what?” Gavin asked directly, sitting lazily on the couch’s armrest again.

“Talk to yourself,” Connor said as he finally moved from his spot, slowly approaching Gavin as he looked at him from head to toe without much discretion. Gavin raised a brow.

“What d’you mean?”

“When you hear something you don’t like, or that isn’t useful to you,” Connor added with a little smile as he finally met his eyes again. “You mumble what I can only believe are insults.” This time, Gavin slightly frowned.

“I don’t spend my time insulting people,” he said, looking away. Connor’s smile slightly faded away as he kept staring at Gavin, different contradicting thoughts coming into his mind.

“No… you insult androids,” he said quietly. Gavin directly looked at him again and stood up as he saw the look on Connor’s face.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said calmly. “Not what I meant at all,” he added more firmly. Connor slightly tilted his head as he slowly slid his hands in his pockets. “For your information, I spend plenty of time insulting a lot of very different people.” Connor slightly looked down as the left corner of his lips curled up. He glanced at Gavin again.

“You’re not helping yourself by saying that,” he said. Gavin slightly gritted his teeth as he looked away again. “Have you changed your mind?” Connor asked. After a short moment, Gavin glanced at him again.

“I don’t-!” he began before he sighed. “I… don’t know.” Connor slightly opened his mouth again, but Gavin continued. “I mean I know some things… but it’s just so complicated. You know what, I made a reputation of myself just by hating you guys! What am I gonna do, walk into the precinct and hug you in front of everyone? I might as well start making coffee and bringing donuts for everybody,” he said, talking fast. Connor blinked, his mouth still slightly open. He ended up closing it and looking away to avoid smiling. “I… Let’s say I can stand your presence, alright? I don’t mind you being… in my fucking personal space. That’s something already, isn’t it? Does that make you happy? Are you satisfied with this answer?”

There was a moment of silence, Connor meeting Gavin’s eyes again. He almost seemed out of breath after all this fast thinking and talking so much, trying to find a way to say that he was fine with Connor without looking like he was making a declaration of friendship.

“I was talking about your brother,” Connor said quietly. Gavin’s expression changed. He was clearly embarrassed but was trying to keep his composure. Connor did notice his cheeks, though. Gavin was paler than usual, lately, probably due to his lack of sleep, and it was easy for Connor to see the fluctuation in his complexion.

“I knew that,” Gavin finally let out in an almost strangled voice before he cleared his throat as quietly as he could.

“I should have made it clearer,” Connor then said.

“I said I knew what you were talking about!” Gavin said more loudly, Connor only nodding. “Put on some fucking shoes, we’re going,” he said. Connor started to move towards the couch to take his shoes and Gavin grabbed his hoodie before starting to walk towards the front door.

Connor joined Gavin outside and, as always, caught his helmet.

“You know that you have more chances to die than me if we get into an accident, right?” Connor asked as he sat behind Gavin and only put his hands on his waist. Now that he was getting used to being on his bike, he felt more secure with only holding him this way.

“And I don’t want to be sued because I’ve broken you,” Gavin simply said, a bit aggressively, even though Connor knew it was just an act at that point. Gavin then grabbed Connor’s wrists. He moved his arms so that they would be around him again, before he put his own hands on his handlebars. “So, you better hold tight,” he said before putting one hand on his handlebars, the other on the key.

“Got it,” Connor said.  “By the way,” he added before Gavin could start his motorcycle.

“What?”

“I don’t mind you being in my personal space either, Gavin,” Connor said. Gavin swallowed before he started his bike, muttering a “fucking androids” as he did so.

 

Connor removed Gavin’s helmet after he stopped the bike in front of Elijah’s house. They were already driving there when Connor realized that Gavin hadn’t asked him for the address. He didn’t say anything about it, though. Gavin stared at the house and after a moment, Connor spoke quietly.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Gavin didn’t answer, lost in his thoughts. He was a few feet away from his brother’s house, and closer to his brother than he had been in two decades. He sighed before getting off the bike.

“Let’s just get it over with,” he said. He let Connor go first, though, and they stopped in front of the door as Connor rang.

They waited for a moment before the door opened. Connor instantly recognized Chloe. It was the same one as last time. He felt weird and looked down for a second before talking.

“I don’t know if you remember me, I am Connor,” he started. “This is Detective Reed, we would like to talk with Mr. Kamski.”

“Come in,” Chloe said as she let them enter. Gavin’s eyes directly stopped on the giant frame on Elijah’s wall and he scoffed. What a moron… He slightly shook his head as he listened to the android.

“I will let Elijah know that you’re here,” she said before looking at Connor. “He hasn’t received visitors since your last visit,” she added, “I don’t know if he will see you.” She then started to walk towards another door, not the one leading to the room with his pool.

“Tell him his brother’s there,” Gavin told Chloe. The android stopped as he spoke before walking towards the door again, closing it behind her.

Gavin approached the frame he was still staring at and hid his hands in his pockets. Connor slowly approached, staying slightly behind Gavin, not next to him, but still being very close to the detective.

“Do you think that could make him refuse?” he asked quietly.

“What do you mean?” Gavin asked, slightly turning his head.

“Knowing that you’re here. Do you think it could make him refuse to see us?” he asked, glancing at Gavin. He could see the way his jaw was moving, and he watched as Gavin looked at the portrait again.

“Elijah is a lot of things, you know,” he said on the same tone as Connor. “He’s smart, manipulative, clearly arrogant,” he said as he scoffed again, slightly moving his hand to show the picture as he said that, “but he also has a very curious mind, Connor.”

“What do you mean?”

“He can’t resist the need of knowing everything that’s going on,” he simply said as he shrugged. “Believe me, he’ll want to see me with his own two eyes.” Connor thought maybe Gavin was too confident with this. Maybe Elijah had changed since the last time Gavin had seen him. And yet… Gavin had said that he was arrogant. Looking at the gigantic frame of him, in his own house, and thinking about how Elijah had described the androids as the greatest human achievement…

Elijah was still very intriguing to Connor. Because despite talking about androids this way, he had still said that they were as much of an evil as humans were, putting them on an equal footing. But what was his vision of his creations? He was only spending his time with them and was clearly so over humanity that he’d probably set the world on fire if he had the opportunity to do so. And yet, despite spending his days alone with the same androids, he would have let Connor kill one of them without flinching, as if he hadn’t grown attached to them.

Connor glanced at Gavin. Maybe it was just Elijah. Maybe he was the one that was different. That wasn’t feeling the same things as them.

The door opened again, and Connor looked at Chloe.

“Elijah will see you now,” she said before stepping aside to let them walk in. Connor gave another glance at Gavin, waiting for him to make the first move.

Connor stayed behind him, his eyes directly stopping on Elijah as they made their way in what seemed to be a huge living room. A bar was in a corner of the room, the walls facing the outside were made of glass. The couches were down some steps forming a big square in the middle of the room, and Elijah was sitting on one of them, a glass of water in one hand. In front of his large couch was a fireplace. Well, not a real one. And as Connor noticed, Elijah was only staring at Gavin as they approached the steps.

Finally, Elijah lazily looked at Connor before his eyes fell on his brother again.

“Why don’t you take a seat?” he said with a polite smile.

“We’ll not be here for long,” Gavin directly said. He, however, wasn’t smiling. And he knew that expression on Elijah’s face. The same one he’d give during interviews. All that had changed was his hair, really. Soon enough, Elijah’s smile faded, and he slowly moved to put his glass on the coffee table before standing up. He climbed the steps to face Gavin, stopping right in front of him, close to him.

“You’re the last person I expected to see here, brother,” he said just a bit more quietly, but still speaking with a drawl Connor had already heard in Gavin’s mouth.

“Because you really expect a lot of people to come in here?” Gavin asked, looking around, mainly to avoid staring into Elijah’s eyes for too long. Elijah quietly scoffed and tilted his head, his eyes revealing his amusement.

“Still your natural cheerful self. You truly haven’t changed, have you?”

“You wouldn’t know about that, would you?” Gavin asked more quietly. Elijah breathed deeply, taking the hit.

“No. No, I wouldn’t,” he said calmly, knowing that it was regretful.

“And you. Cut out of the world. I’m not surprised you’re…” Gavin began without finishing.

“I’m not alone, here.” Gavin glanced at Chloe.

“No, you’re with your…” Again, he didn’t finish his sentence. Elijah’s eyes narrowed for a split second. Connor, who had been staring at him since the beginning, noticed. He guessed that Elijah had noticed something in Gavin’s way of speaking.

“Yes?” Elijah asked, waiting for Gavin to go on.

“Your creations,” Gavin let out way more quietly. Elijah slowly nodded as he understood what was going on.

“Well, you’re with one of my creations yourself, here,” he said, finally looking at Connor again. Elijah started walking towards him and stopped in front of him for a moment, meeting his eyes for a second. Then, he started to slowly walk around Connor, under Gavin’s gaze, his eyes not leaving Connor for one moment. He stopped next to him, slowly raising his hand. The tip of his fingers ran on Connor’s back, only slightly touching his jacket, before he put it on the back of Connor’s neck. Connor didn’t move but locked eyes with Gavin as he slightly frowned at the touch, his LED becoming yellow. Elijah wasn’t applying any pressure on his neck, he was simply resting his fingers on him, but Connor would have rather been standing next to Gavin instead.

“I see that our mutual friend knows your little secret…” Elijah said. “How come?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Gavin said directly, before Connor could utter a word. But Connor wanted to talk. He wasn’t Elijah’s friend, he wasn’t there to be used against Gavin, he was just there for answers. And yet, he felt that if he was doing anything, it would have consequences on his relationship with Gavin. He knew he’d feel when it would be okay for him to say anything, so he stayed quiet for a moment.

Gavin’s jaw was so clenched that it would soon begin to hurt. He felt like approaching and moving Elijah’s hand away, but he knew that his brother was already trying to prove a point. Like he wanted to do when he had asked Connor to shoot Chloe. He wanted to get his way again, have the upper hand from the beginning.

“So, he actually is your friend,” Elijah said quietly. Gavin looked away, annoyed, and he sighed. Elijah slowly turned his head to look at Connor, examining his features, his hand still on the back of his neck. Connor made a point of not looking at him, keeping a neutral expression as he stared at Gavin.

“I never said he was, Eli,” Gavin said. He directly paused, realizing how he had called his brother. Even twenty years down the line, he couldn’t change some old habits.

“You didn’t deny it,” Elijah said. He had glanced at his brother when hearing his nickname, but he now turned his head to stare at him again. Gavin had directly said that why Connor knew about them didn’t matter, but he hadn’t said anything about Elijah calling Connor his friend. Even if Elijah had no idea about the hatred for androids Gavin had built-up all these years, he knew that just the idea of them had freaked him out more than once. Maybe it had just been because of the way Elijah had been talking about them, and how they would be superior to them, how better they would be for them than other human beings. Still.

“And I don’t remember him being your friend to play with,” Gavin said, glancing at Connor before looking at Elijah again. Another way of telling him that his assumption was false to begin with, so he had nothing to prove to him. Elijah’s gaze slowly left Gavin as he looked away, but not really at anything, a very small smile on his face. “And I’m not here to be fucked around with either,” he added. “I think we’re past that,” Gavin said, his words implying something. Elijah glanced at him for a second before finally getting his hand back. After a short moment, Connor’s LED became blue again, something that Gavin noticed.

“Why are you here, then, if it’s not to reconcile?” Elijah asked as he walked past Gavin, this time, regaining his seat. Gavin rolled his eyes as he shook his head, now that Elijah wasn’t seeing him. He glanced at Connor as he took a deep breath before turning around. He got down the steps and stopped near the table, Elijah sipping his wine. Connor followed, stopping next to Gavin.

“You come to weird conclusions,” Gavin let out. He opened his mouth, getting ready to explain the situation, when he was interrupted by Elijah.

“Well, the last time Connor showed up, he wasn’t accompanied by you, was he?” he said. “He was with… Lieutenant Anderson, was it?” Elijah asked, this time looking at Connor. He knew he was right, he didn’t have to ask. “I thought maybe you weren’t there for work. Or… well,” he said, the corner of his mouth slightly curling up because of how ironic the situation would be, “did you have to switch partners?”

“I didn’t,” Connor simply said, still with a neutral expression on his face. No matter how much Elijah had troubled him during his first visit, he wasn’t the same now. He wouldn’t let him get to him. “That’s why we’re here, actually, Mr. Kamski,” Connor said, staying his polite self.

“Is that so?” Elijah asked, an almost invisible frown forming. He looked at his brother. “Please, do tell.”

“Anderson got shot,” he said more firmly. “By an android,” he added. “Now, he’s alright but you know what, Elijah, your android was in my apartment, waiting for me. I don’t need for my life to be on the line right now, and certainly not because of you.”

“Such animosity in your words,” Elijah said, putting a hand against his chest. “I would be hurt if I wasn’t expecting this from you,” he said. Gavin’s lips twitched but he didn’t say anything in return. Elijah sat more comfortably, crossing his legs. “What makes you believe it’s my fault? Our little quarrel? I thought we were past that.”

“If you wanted to be a psychologist, Elijah, maybe you shouldn’t have studied IA.”

There was a short silent, but somehow, both Gavin and Elijah had the same satisfied expression. Connor was starting to get impatient.

“The android that was looking for your brother isn’t the only one attacking cops,” he said, wanting to get to the point. “There are at least three of them, and we have the same numbers of victims. We’re only here to seek some help, we’ve only been able to identify the model of one of them. If you can’t help us, we’ll be on our way.”

“Have you come to terms with yourself, Connor?” Elijah asked as he looked at the very realistic fire projected in what he was using as a fireplace. Gavin was about to tell him that he should stop talking about something else, but Connor spoke before him.

“You already know I have,” he simply said with a firm tone. Connor felt like the best thing to do was to answer straight away.

“Good, good,” Elijah quietly said, still looking at the fire.

“The android is a LM100. Do you have any way of helping us find him, or not?”

“And you, Gavin?” Elijah asked.

“Just answer the fucking questions, Elijah,” Gavin quickly said. Connor slightly turned his head, glancing at him. Yes, he definitely was the older brother.

“I have nothing to tell you,” Elijah simply said. Connor looked at him again.

“Because you don’t want to help us?” Gavin asked.

“Because I don’t know anything,” Elijah sighed. He put his glass of wine on the table again before finally looking at Gavin. “You really should stop assuming the worst in people, Gavin. Everything I’m doing right now is not just a mean of teasing you.”

“Okay, then,” Gavin said before he sighed. He shook his head and turned around. “Connor, come on, we’re leaving.”

“Some deviants can sort it all out.” Gavin stopped. Connor, who was about to follow him, did as well, and they both looked at Elijah again. The genius stood up again, walking towards them but stopping near the steps. “You just have to look at Markus to know that,” he added. “But then, some of them probably don’t know what to do. If they deviated by themselves, not with Markus’ help, maybe they never really got to understand what’s going on. For the first time,” he continued, raising his head a little as he clasped his hands behind his back, “no one is there to tell them what to do.”

Both Gavin and Connor thought about the interrogation, the first day they met. The android Connor had found in the attic was scared and had told Connor that no one was there to tell him what to do, so that he didn’t know where to go. Connor turned his head to exchange a glance with Gavin, who definitely wasn’t leaving the room anymore at that moment.

“It probably made them vulnerable to a lot of things. Maybe they are so scared that they could even still be influenced by humans, who knows.”

“You think a human could be a part of the group?” Gavin asked, taking a step towards them.

“Again, Gav, I don’t know,” Elijah said. Gain looked away when he heard his own nickname. “But you came here for my input. I’m just listing possibilities.”

“We thought they were targeting cops because of the hate crimes that took place during the revolution,” Connor said, looking at Elijah. “I told Gavin, a month ago, that there was yet to prove that androids could have psychotic behavior. Instead, for every case I’ve worked on, they killed because of an emotional distress. Do you think they could be planning all of this by themselves?”

“They did plan an entire revolution,” Elijah said, considering Connor. “Who knows how that could have turned out, Connor? You are definitely independent enough to know what is right and what is wrong, what you should do, and what you shouldn’t do,” he continued, including all the deviants with that “you”. “One small decision, maybe another deviant conducting the revolution, and it could have been a massacre,” he said. He looked at his brother. “But I didn’t create killing machines.”

“You created an entirely different species,” Gavin said.

“So, who’s to say they’re not doing it by themselves? And who’s to say someone isn’t using their trauma to target your colleagues, as well as yourself? As for a location… I wouldn’t be able to track down that android myself, just by knowing its model.”

Connor slightly nodded and was about to talk again when he met Elijah’s eyes.

“Would you mind giving us a minute, Connor.” It wasn’t a question, Elijah wanted to talk to his brother alone. Yet, Connor didn’t move. He looked at Gavin.

“I think we’re good to go,” Gavin said. Connor looked at Elijah, slightly inclined his head to thank him and walked to join Gavin on his way out.

“Just a minute, Gavin,” Elijah said, staring at his brother, who was still walking towards the door. “You can time it.”

Gavin stopped and slightly turned his head, slowly looking down.

“You don’t have to…” Connor almost whispered. Gavin glanced at him. Connor’s LED was yellow again, but he wouldn’t have been able to tell why, this time. He only nodded towards the door to tell Connor to go. He wanted to be nicer, to reassure him and tell him than yes, in a minute, he would be out. But he didn’t want to talk like that in front of his brother, because he had already noticed.

Right at the beginning, because he hadn’t been able to talk about androids the way Elijah could do it. He couldn’t just consider him as robots anymore, not with how close he had become to Connor, not that he was seeing that particular fucking prick into a different light. Connor considered Gavin for a moment. He then glanced at Elijah, then noticing that he was staring at him. He looked away, visibly a bit annoyed, or maybe frustrated. It didn’t matter, Elijah noticed.

He watched Connor leave the room and he approached Chloe, putting his hand on his shoulder and sending her on her way too, so that he could be completely alone with Gavin. He climbed the steps again. Gavin approached, too, but still kept his distance, as if an invisible safety barrier was keeping them apart.

“Are you counting,” Elijah asked, not approaching more to let his brother the space he needed. He moved his hands behind his back again as he tilted his head, not getting any answer. “Or maybe you’ve forgotten how to do so,” he added quietly.

“Stop that,” Gavin said, slightly looking down for a short moment.

That’s what Gavin always used to do at the time. The kind of dialogue they had been having for the past few minutes was the kind they would often have when they were teenagers. Teasing each other all the time, falsely arguing over dumb stuff. Probably like a lot of siblings were doing. It was never real arguments. And that conversation had felt like that, like their old behavior.

Maybe it was because they had grown apart. Their relationship, however, hadn’t grown with them, and they were stuck in that stupid teenager phase where they couldn’t be completely mature with each other, even though they both had become mature at a young age through different experiences. Whether it was because Elijah had a brain working very differently, or because Gavin had learned about rejection, impossible standards and depression at a young age. Whenever they were together, they used to feel normal.

And whenever they’d have real arguments, and that Gavin was the one getting the most hurt, he would get angry, and he would tell Elijah to explain his point of view in a minute. If he wasn’t able to convince him that he was right, Gavin would send him on his way. He would count down the time, and after a minute, Elijah had to stop, even in mid-sentence. Gavin had always been ruthless when they’d fight.

“I heard you worked on Ava’s case,” Elijah said. Gavin, taken aback, slightly frowned.

“How do you know about that?” he asked quietly, not feeling like talking about it. Somehow, he still hard a hard time dealing with these events, and he didn’t like to dwell too much on them, he had already done so way too much.

“Mom and dad,” Elijah simply said. Gavin nodded before shaking his head as he looked away, his jaw clenched. He blinked, too, feeling his eyes slightly stinging.

“Should have figured,” he said quietly.

“They called me for the funeral,” he said.

“But you didn’t go,” Gavin said, looking at his brother again. Elijah frowned as he approached a little bit more.

“You did?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, yeah,” Gavin said, as if he shouldn’t be surprised.

“Did you talk to them?”

“No, I didn’t go for them,” Gavin said, slightly defensive. “We knew Ava. I went for her and her parents.” Elijah considered his brother for a moment before looking away at the windows.

“You found her, didn’t you?” he asked. Gavin took a moment before answering.

“Yeah. With Connor, he helped me on the case…”

“How was she?” Elijah asked, starting to walk towards the windows. Gavin frowned.

“Dead. She was dead. And I don’t want to think about it,” he said, seeing her corpse in his mind again.

“Did she suffer?” Elijah asked. Gavin clenched his jaw as he looked at his brother again.

“Yeah, she did. And she was scared, and she fought to survive,” he ended up saying calmly. Elijah looked down for a second. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?” Gavin asked, feeling impatient. “It’s been more than a minute.” Silence followed this statement. “Eli,” he said a bit louder, still waiting for an answer.

“Sorry about the time,” Elijah finally said as he turned to look at his brother. “I guess we can’t always keep our word,” he added with a small smile. Gavin’s lips curled up before the irony. Yeah, there was a lot of promises they hadn’t been able to keep, because of their fight. Elijah slowly walked towards his brother.

“Yeah, well, I’m still counting,” Gavin said, watching his brother. “Some things never really change.”

Elijah stopped in front of Gavin and examined his face for a short moment. Then, he slowly raised his right hand. Gavin didn’t move as he felt the tip of Elijah’s fingers against his face. They were resting on his cheek, close to his eye, as Elijah’s thumb slowly touched Gavin’s scar.

“Some things really don’t,” he said quietly. He let his hand down and met Gavin’s eyes. After a few seconds, he looked away. “Connor must be waiting for you.” Gavin didn’t move, at first, and Elijah glanced at him again. “You shouldn’t make him wait for too long,” he said quietly.

Gavin blinked, looked down for a second and, after one last glance to Elijah, he turned around to leave.

As he walked away, Gavin realized how much he had missed his brother’s presence. His voice, his stupid way of talking and acting, even the way he was looking at him, sometimes, as if he was just interesting to study because of his reactions. He still had pride and anger, and he couldn’t do anything about it at that moment, but he knew he didn’t want to leave that room just yet. To leave him again. But he just kept walking towards the door.

“I will try,” Elijah said as Gavin opened the door, already spotting Connor waiting for him in the entrance. He stopped and slightly turned his head to listen to his brother. “I have some contacts… if I find anything, you’ll be the first one to know.”

From where he was standing, Elijah couldn’t see it, but Connor was able to see the corner of Gavin’s mouth. He smirked in a knowing way, probably because of Elijah little tricks reminding him of some things that used to make his laugh, and Gavin finally walked out of the room without a look for his brother.

When they got out of the house, after the door closed behind them, Gavin let out a deep sigh without even really noticing it, as if all the pressure he had been feeling had just dropped. He felt more light-hearted, as if something in his stomach was less heavy.

“Are you alright?” Connor asked, very curious about the private conversation Gavin had with Elijah, but not about to ask him directly anything about it.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Gavin let out. Somehow, Connor knew that he wasn’t lying this time.

“I think he was happy to see you,” Connor said. Gavin stopped walking, but Connor kept approaching the bike.

“You think?” Gavin asked, a bit surprised by that assumption. Elijah hadn’t shown any sign of being glad to see him, but again, whatever was happening, he wasn’t showing much.  Connor stopped next to the bike, picking up the helmet as he looked at Gavin. He nodded. “You’d think he’d be dead inside, so I wouldn’t… I’m not sure he was,” he said as he approached Connor.

“Well, you can believe what you want,” Connor said, meeting his eyes. “But he was indeed very curious about seeing you again.”

“Mh.” Gavin wasn’t convinced he had been curious because Elijah wanted to see him. It was probably just his twisted curiosity. He sat on his bike, waiting for Connor.

“There was a card from the FBI on his table,” Connor added as he put the helmet on. Gavin glanced at him. “Chloe said he didn’t receive anyone since my visit with Hank. He knows we’re not on the case anymore, yet you’re the one he’s going to contact if he learns anything. He’s going to look into it for you, even though he didn’t care when these agents came.” He sat behind Gavin and already passed his arms around him. “I’m just saying,” he added. Gavin looked down, clenching his jaw and swallowing his spit. He then cleared his throat.

“Yeah well, I’m immune to the bullshit you say sometimes,” he said, making Connor slightly smile from behind the helmet.


	14. A Little Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it took me a very long time to write this chapter. There's a lot of stuff going on irl right now, there wasn't a day I wasn't out of my apartment last week and I just got some time to write these last two days. I really wanted to publish today, it was my last chance as my father is getting married tomorrow and my sister moves out in another country on Sunday. So I won't be updating before next week. I'll try to be faster than for this one though  
> I hope you will enjoy it. Thank you for all your comments and love for the story !

After a few days, Gavin had lost hope of having any news from Elijah. He wasn’t surprised, though. He wasn’t expecting anything. At least, he didn’t think so. He liked to believe he didn’t.

And there he was, sitting next to Hank’s bed, trying to shoot in a bin little balls of wadding he wasn’t supposed to touch with one of the clean tongue depressors that had been left on the nurse’s trolley. He was failing a lot. It had quickly turned into some kind of competition with Hank, after he had criticized Gavin every time he failed. They had made Connor tried but obviously, that prick was able to calculate the trajectory. Cheater.

Now, Gavin had both his feet up Hank’s bed as he was staring at Connor. The android was standing in the opposite corner of the room, preparing to throw yet another ball right in the bin. Hank was in the bathroom, getting dressed.

“What the fuck are we doing?” Gavin sighed. Connor turned his head to meet Gavin’s eyes from where he was standing.

“Waiting for Hank,” he said as he made his shot, not even looking at the target.

“You know what I mean,” Gavin added as he stood up, the ball of wadding landing right in the bin. Yes, Connor knew what he meant. They had been spending their time together, during the last few days, desperately waiting for a lead from Elijah or Markus. They couldn’t get any info from the police station, and no other attack had been reported by the media. They were pretty sure the FBI had scared them off and that they were into hiding at the moment.

“Well, we can’t really do anything, can we? Now, Hank’s getting out of the hospital, so we’re going to go back home and… I don’t know. Maybe we should just drop it,” Connor said, a bit hesitant. Gavin knew he didn’t want to give up. But now that Hank could get out of the hospital, Connor would soon be able to go officially go back to work. “If they don’t find anything before I go back, then I’ll try to find anything I can that could be helpful once I’m back there,” he added.

“Yeah and I’ll just stay at home, being watched all the fucking time by some dum-“

There was a knock on the door and they both turned to look in that direction. Hank opened the bathroom door at the same time and got out, his hand on his side.

“What’s going on?” he asked. Connor put the tongue depressor on the trolley as he walked towards the door. Nurses weren’t usually knocking. Connor opened the door as Gavin shrugged, looking at Hank.

“You must be Connor,” a man said. Connor slightly nodded as he looked down at the badges the two FBI agents were showing him. They quickly introduced themselves before continuing. In the room, Hank and Gavin exchanged a glance. Gavin looked a bit panicky and Hank rolled his eyes, grabbing Gavin by his collar as he pulled him in the direction of the bathroom, pushing him inside. That was probably the only time he could do that without Gavin directly shouting insults at him.

“Is Lieutenant Anderson here?” the other one asked as Hank closed the bathroom’s door.

“Where else should he be?” Connor asked, letting his usual politeness aside. He was so frustrated by the case, lately. What did they want with Hank? They had already asked him questions about the assault. The agents exchanged a glance before looking at Connor again.

“And is Detective Reed here as well?” Connor didn’t show anything. Hank had figured they were probably looking after him. They had let surveillance in front of his house. Obviously, not showing up there had probably been suspicious. Even if he was inside when they arrived in the first place, not getting out in a week was enough to raise suspicions. After checking inside the building and forcing his door yet another time to see if nothing had happened to him, they quickly realized he hadn’t been in his apartment for quite some time.

“Why would he be?” Connor asked, this time.

“Because he hasn’t been in his apartment ever since he was suspended from the case,” one of the agents said. The agents stepped in the room, looking around. “Lieutenant Anderson. Up already?”

“Yeah, I’m getting out of this hellhole,” Hank said grumpily. The agent looked down at his side before turning to face Connor again.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where your colleague is?”

“We’re not exactly tight,” Hank said before Connor could answer. He walked towards the chair Gavin had been sitting on to get his jacket.

“So we’ve heard,” the agent said. “We also got to look at his file. He’s short-tempered, bold… abrasive.” Connor clenched his jaw as his LED slightly flickered yellow just by hearing that description. “Your Captain seems to believe it’s part of his ambitious and hard-working personality. You don’t happen to think he would have decided to take care of this case alone, do you?” He asked.

“He’s not the smartest but he’s not dumb,” Hank said, approaching Connor. “I doubt he’d do something like that without his badge or even just his gun to defend himself. Aren’t there three suspects? Including one who was in his apartment and shot me instead of him? Maybe he just doesn’t feel safe there, even with you guys around. I mean, you still haven’t caught them, have you?”

There was a moment of silence during which everyone standing in the room stared at each other.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t”, the agent said. “It would be regretful to find his body before finding any of them. Do you have any idea of where he could be? Did he tell you anything after the assault?” he asked, looking at Connor.

“I haven’t talked to him since he’s been suspended,” Connor lied.

“You shouldn’t be surprised he disappeared. That’s what he does,” Hank added. “I wouldn’t have been shot if he hadn’t once already. He’ll come back eventually.”

“Fine,” the agent said. “Then, where was he when he left, that day?”

“Visiting his family. They’re based outside of Detroit, from what I know.” Connor simply said. “We’re not the ones you should ask about this. Like Lieutenant Anderson said, we’re not exactly tight.”

“We know he has been ignoring your Captain’s calls even before being suspended from the case. Would one of you mind calling him for us?”

“Hold on,” Hank sighed as he slid his hand in the pocket of his jacket to take his phone out.

In the bathroom, Gavin’s eyes widened as he quickly moved his hands on his pockets to feel where his phone was. He then frowned, not finding it. Then, he almost let out a sigh of relief. They had to come to the hospital with Hank’s car to be able to drive him home, and he had let his phone in the car. He waited, almost against the door, as he listened. There was only silence for a moment. Then, he heard that he was on speaker, as he heard the tone, until they heard his voicemail. Hank hung up and he listened to the muffled voices until the door was opened again.

Gavin walked past Hank as he sighed.

“Shit, should have figured they’d come for me,” he said.

“You’ll have to do something about this at some point,” Connor said, crossing his arms. “You’ve been avoiding the Captain again? You’re going to get fired.” Hank glanced at Connor. The two of them had been acting a bit weirdly with each other, lately. Connor was still very formal with Gavin in front of him and yet, he could tell there was something in his behavior that was different. He never really gave it much thought, he thought it was just being stuck with him for so much time. Now that he was about to go to work again, that would probably be over. At least, Hank wasn’t going to let him squat his house for much longer. And he would have a talk with Connor about letting people like Gavin sleep on his couch.

“Yeah, I know, I just…” Gavin said before he took a deep breath. “I just can’t deal with that shit right now, alright?” he told Connor, facing him.

Connor slightly tilted his head as he examined Gavin’s sleep-deprived face.

“Let’s… Let’s just go,” Gavin then said, looking done with the situation. He turned around and walked towards the door. “Don’t you want to leave this fucking room anyway?” he asked Hank, looking in his direction as he opened the door. He only saw both Connor and Hank’s expression change as he bumped head on into someone.

He got the reflex of grabbing the young woman by her arms, just below her shoulders, so that she wouldn’t fall. She did let something slip out of her hands, though.

“I’m so sorry-!” Gavin let out as he caught her before realizing who she was. Both Hank and Connor had approached the door as Gavin slowly removed his hands from her arms. Her LED was yellow as their eyes met and she finally looked away at the tablet on the floor. Flustered, Gavin picked it up himself before she could do so and handed it to her.

“Aren’t you that girl from Kamski’s place?” Hank asked, recognizing the android.

“Chloe,” Connor said more quietly. She gave them a polite smile as. Her LED was blue again and she handed put her hand against the tablet, slightly pushing it away.

“Elijah has asked me to deliver this to you directly,” she told him, meeting his eyes again. Gavin slightly frowned, uncomprehending. He was still too surprised. He did keep the tablet, but he kept looking at her straight in the eye.

“What is it?” Connor asked. After a short moment, Chloe finally looked at Connor and again, she smiled politely.

“He did promise Detective Reed he would do what he could,” she said. Hank raised a brow as he glanced at Gavin.

“Did he say anything else?” Gavin asked, maybe a bit too quickly.

Connor was staring at Chloe. She clearly hadn’t deviated, and yet, she seemed… not free, but independent in her own way. Maybe just because after all these years, Elijah was trusting her enough to do all these things on her own. He was always in that house with Chloe models, and he seemed to pay more attention to this one than the others. Or she just seemed to have more responsibilities. She was also probably the only remaining machine in his house, as the other models seemed to have deviated during, or even before, the revolution. Elijah didn’t seem to mind, on the contrary, he was fascinated. But this one, he was keeping close. Yet, he would have let Connor shot her in cold blood. How strange.

How fascinating. She was also simply calling him “Elijah”, not “Mr. Kamski”, as if they were actually close. And the way she was looking at Gavin let Connor think she knew more about him than they thought, or something like that. He couldn’t tell, but it was weird.

“He said that you could possibly find anything you desired with this,” she said. Gavin blinked, Hank and Connor frowned a little. Desired was a weird choice of word and the tree of them noticed.

Gavin looked down at the black screen of the tablet again. He only looked up when he felt fingers on his cheek. Slowly, he looked at Chloe again, his heart skipping a beat as he met her blue eyes. He felt like they were going right through his body, right through his soul.

He didn’t know why she put her hand on his cheek, or why she looked hurt. Or maybe not hurt, maybe it was some kind of pity. Or some kind of empathy. Could she feel that if she wasn’t a deviant? He didn’t remove her hand, being too surprised to actually do anything. Hank and Connor didn’t intervene either. Connor was taken aback as well, but also very curious. Hank… well, Hank wondered how long it would take for Gavin to break that arm. Since when was he letting androids get so close to him anyway? He glanced at Connor, then at Gavin and Chloe again, wondering what the hell was going on. He had only been in the hospital for a week, right? He didn’t fall into some kind of coma that nobody told him about, before waking up in an alternate universe, right?

After a few seconds, Chloe finally removed her hand from Gavin’s cheek to finally walk away. Gavin only blinked as he watched her go before looking at the tablet he was holding tightly between his fingers.

Neither Connor or Hank knew what to say. Hank thought that maybe Gavin needed to lie down, after that.

“What the fuck just happened?” he asked, staring at his colleague. Connor glanced at him before approaching Gavin. He raised his hand, wanting to put it on his shoulder, but he didn’t. He let his hand fall down.

“We should go, now,” he said. “We’ll look at this in the car.”

 

Out of the hospital, and after having made sure the FBI had left, the three men walked towards Hank’s car. As Gavin opened the front door to get his phone back, on the other side of the car, Connor put his hand on Hank’s wrist as he was about to open the door.

“You’re not driving just yet,” he said. Hank frowned and get his hand back.

“Oh come on! I feel better, can you stop nursing me already?” he asked grumpily. He was already not happy with the fact that he couldn’t get back to work just yet.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” Connor said before opening the door and sitting behind the wheel. Hank sighed and walked around the car, pointing at the back door.

“You sit there,” he told Gavin who just rolled his eyes but complied. Once the doors were closed, Gavin sitting in the middle of the seats, they were ready to check whatever was on that tablet. Gavin was about to unlock it when his phone rang. Fowler. He sighed.

“Maybe you should pick up, this time,” Connor said.

“So that I don’t make things worse for myself?” Gavin asked, as if it was still an option. He did pick up, though.

“Visiting your family, Reed? Visiting your family?” Even Hank and Connor could hear Fowler’s voice.

“Well, yeah,” Gavin said as he handed the tablet to Connor.

“This sounds as true as when you used that excuse with Chris. Do you boys actually believe I’m that stupid?” Connor and Gavin exchanged a glance.

“Of course not, we just think you now better,” Gavin said as he slumped on his seat.

“You do realize the position you’re in? Now, if they learn that Connor lied, his career will also be put on the line and frankly, I don’t want to waste any more time with paperwork because of you two!”

“Captain, I’m offended,” Gavin said as he looked out the window. “I’m out there, trying to spend some quality time with my fam, and y-“

“GAVIN!”

Gavin stopped and swallowed as he avoided looking at his colleagues. He clenched his jaw as his fingers were automatically grabbing his hoodie’s strap to play with it.

“You’re sticking with that story?” Fowler asked a bit more calmly. By knowing he knew better, Gavin had indirectly admitted he was lying, But if he wasn’t saying it directly, his boss wouldn’t be involved in the lie, because in the end, Gavin knew he was probably going to drop it. Fowler was often harsh and yes, he was a professional, but just his behavior with Hank after the Lieutenant assaulted Perkins showed that he knew what was important.

“Yup,” Gavin said before taking a deep breath, waiting for the backlash. But Fowler didn’t yell.

“If you’re with your family, then, would you mind telling me why your brother refuses to talk to the FBI?” he asked. Gavin clenched his jaw again. He hoped that this time, Hank and Connor hadn’t been able to hear that. Well, it was mostly for Hank. He glanced at them, but Hank’s expression hadn’t changed.

“I never said I was with my brother,” he said more quietly as he glanced at Connor. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“You better stop whatever the fuck you’re doing. Both of you,” Fowler said curtly before hanging up. Gavin removed his phone from against his ear and looked at it for a second before looking at the duo in front of him.

“We’re all good,” he just said. Connor closed his eyes. If he could actually breathe, he would sigh. Hank only rolled his eyes before fixing them on Gavin.

“I thought you were an only child,” he said. Gavin glanced at him. “You said so yourself.”

“When?” Gavin asked quickly and a bit more coldly.

“Couple of years ago,” Hank simply said as he took the tablet from Connor’s hands, as if he was annoyed by the memory. Connor didn’t know why. Gavin slightly looked down but before he could say anything, Hank continued. “Why would Fowler talk to you about your sibling anyway? What’s he got to do with what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Gavin said, still on the same tone, “he was just fact checking,” he then mumbled. “Anyway, we’re taking a look at that fucking tablet or what?” he asked to change the subject. And even if the situation was still weird for Hank and that he kept staring at Gavin for a second before looking at the tablet, he knew there were things more urgent than Gavin’s family issues at the moment.

Hank turned on the tablet but soon realized they needed a password.

“What the fuck is he playing at?” Hank asked, talking about Elijah. Connor slightly frowned as he took the tablet, and he looked at Gavin.

“He did it on purpose, didn’t he?” Connor asked. “He must have mentioned something during our talk so that it’d make sense now,” he said, also knowing that it could be more than that. Maybe something between them, but if Gavin knew about the password just like that, Hank would get even more suspicious. Again, he didn’t like lying to Hank about anything, but he had already crossed a line with Gavin’s privacy, and he wasn’t about to do it again.

Gavin let out a deep sigh before taking the tablet, trying to think as fast as he could. Starting with the conversation they had, he tried to find some clues. He thought about O-O-6-0, to represent a minute, but as he checked the screen, he noticed there were six numbers required. Probably a date, then.

“Ava’s birthdate, you think?” Connor asked quietly. The day after their visit at Elijah’s, Connor had made an attempt at asking about their private talk, just in case Gavin felt like talking about it. At first, he didn’t. Later that same day, he confided himself in Connor, talking about not only what Elijah had asked, but sharing a few memories he had with both his brother and Ava. It had been weird, but he had felt better. Connor hadn’t made much comments, as he knew Gavin wouldn’t want him to say anything, and he had mostly listened.

“Ava? The girl from the case you worked on in January?” Hank asked. “Why would Kamski know anything about her?” Connor and Gavin exchanged a quick glance as Gavin entered the date.

“He knew her, apparently,” Gavin said, making Connor feel a bit uneasy, “and he knew which Detective worked the case.” Wrong password. Gavin sighed. It really wasn’t time for his brother to play stupid games.

“Has he mentioned anything else?” Hank asked. Connor thought about it for a second before shaking his head.

“I’m not sure…”

Gavin started typing again, trying out different dates of events like Elijah’s graduation, the day his first android was released, the last day of the revolution. He was certain that the date would have some connection to himself, though. That’s what Elijah would always do. Fucker. Gavin slightly narrowed his eyes as he thought. The day they fought, aka the last day they saw each other on? Wrong password again. He was ready to throw that fucking tablet through the window. One more try.

The date they would all leave the house for their annual vacation, maybe? That day, their parents would finally stop caring about their work, Elijah would have to get out of his room and Gavin would feel like they were actually a family.

He unlocked the tablet and closed his eyes as he let out a quiet sigh.

“How did you find out?” Hank asked. Gavin shook his head as he looked at the tablet, deciding to ignore the question. Not only it wouldn’t be different from his usual behavior with Hank, but he didn’t feel like finding excuses, he just wanted for this to be over. He was holding the tablet between the seats so that they would see the screen as well. There was a long list. Gavin slightly frowned as they began to read. There were places, whether it’d be old train stations that weren’t used anymore, or abandoned house, places no one who wasn’t homeless would live in. And with every address was a list of models of androids.

“He said he had contacts, right?” Connor said, figuring out what it was about. “He probably sent some of his androids to check everywhere and make a list of the deviants that are homeless,” Connor said as he used one of his fingers to scroll down the list.

“There are so many of them, did he look all around Detroit?” Hank asked, surprised.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Gavin mumbled. “Fucker…” He tapped on one of the addresses written on the screen, making a picture of the place appear so that they would know how it looked like.

“We should check every place with LM100 models,” Connor said, looking at Gavin. “We can question them and we can even check their legs to see if they’re not hurt. You don’t replace an entire biocomponent for a scratch, especially if he’s already homeless, he wouldn’t find any just like that.”

“Well then, let’s close this fucking case,” Hank said. Connor frowned as he looked at him.

“Um… You’re going home,” he said. Hank raised his eyebrows. Did he hear right?

“I’m sorry, what am I going to do, now?”

“You’re not involved in this. You know the Captain could fire you, maybe he won’t even have a choice, after what already happened in November. Besides, you’re not clear to work again. So, you go back home and you rest.”

“Bullshit!” Hank groaned, upset.

“I’m not giving you a choice. Come on, seatbelts, all of you,” he said as he turned to face the wheel.

“I can’t believe this shit,” Gavin mumbled. Hank crossed his arms as he looked out his window.

“Tell me about it,” he muttered. He then took the tablet to check out the list, see the number of places, groups with the model they were looking for. Once at the end of the list, he saw that he could still scroll down. There was a blank space followed by another line of text.

“If you’re not dead before, I hope to see you in July,” Hank read out loud. Gavin directly looked at him and moved to take the tablet from his hands. Hank moved it away in time and looked at him. Connor only glanced at Gavin in the rearview mirror. “What does that mean? Will one of you finally tell me what the fuck’s going on with that guy?” he asked more aggressively.

“It’s none of your fucking business!” Gavin said on the same tone as he tried to take the tablet from his hands again. Hank used the opportunity to grab Gavin by his collar again. Gavin directly put his hands on Hank’s wrist, trying to push him away.

“Please, would you two stop?” Connor asked, getting impatient.

“You piece of shit have been sleeping on my couch, in my own fucking house, eating my food and making Connor follow you around and getting into problems too. I got shot because of you. If you think you don’t owe me some fucking explanation for the way you’re acting, for what happened with Chloe at the hospital, and for the help Kamski is giving you, you’re being completely mistaken!” Hank said, less aggressively than both Connor and Gavin expected, but still very coldly. He felt that Gavin wasn’t trying to remove his hand anymore, instead, he was staring at him as he swallowed his spit.

“Hank, please,” Connor said more quietly. “We can talk about this later,” he said.

“No! Enough is enough,” Hank said as he glanced at Connor. He soon met Gavin’s eyes again. “You better come clean, Reed, now!”

Gavin stayed silent for a moment. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears and his cheeks were warmer too. He blinked as he looked away for a second, disrupted, and he then looked at Hank straight in the eye again. Connor glanced at him in the mirror once more, wondering if he was actually going to tell him.

“My brother,” Gavin said very quietly, making Hank slightly frown. Gavin took a deep breath as he looked down before he pointed out the tablet with a small head movement. Hank glanced at the tablet, then at Gavin again. “It’s…” Gavin closed his eyes as he breathed deeply again. He thought maybe having already someone knowing would help, yet, it was very difficult to say. Maybe because he never had to actually tell Connor that his brother was Elijah. It was new. “Elijah’s my brother,” he said even more quietly, hoarse. He met Hank’s eyes again. Surely, he wouldn’t believe him, would he?

There was a long silence, not as heavy as one would thought, but too heavy for Gavin. After a moment, Hank slowly let go of his shirt. Gavin couldn’t read his expression, he didn’t know Hank well enough for that. Connor felt like parking the car and have a talk about this and at the same time, he was waiting for one of them to say something.

But in the end, Connor kept driving, Hank turned and looked out the window again, and Gavin slumped back into his seat once more as he avoided looking in the direction of his colleagues. He felt like opening the door and throwing himself on the road.

 

They stayed silent the entire ride. Both Hank and Gavin felt the car stop at some point, heard the handbrake and Gavin slowly removed his seatbelt. Connor was waiting for anyone to say something. After a few seconds, Gavin slowly moved on the seat next to him, opened the door, and started getting out of the car. Connor directly removed his own seatbelt and as he put his hand on the handle of his door, Hank put his hand on his arm.

“Don’t-“ he first said. He met Connor’s eyes. Gavin had also stopped but, noticing that Hank wasn’t talking to him, he got out. “We’ve got to talk, first,” he said.

“The case-“

“It can wait,” Hank said before hearing the back door being closed. Gavin hid his hands in his pockets as he walked towards his bike. Hank watched him from behind his window and saw him lean against it, crossing his arms as he was desperately looking anywhere but at the car. He turned to look at Connor. “You knew about this?”

“Yes,” Connor simply said as he looked down. “I would have told you, but… I wasn’t supposed to find out,” he added quietly.

“How did you find out, then?” Connor finally met his eyes, feeling even more uncomfortable. He didn’t want Hank to be mad at him.

“I… I’m not proud of it but I looked through his personal belongings,” he said on the same tone. Hank frowned a little.

“When?”

“The… the night you got shot,” he said. “I went back to his apartment with him, so that I could check something he noticed. The Thirium from the android we’re looking for. After everything… You weren’t going to wake up anytime soon and I kind of crashed on his couch, but I obviously didn’t sleep. I just… I looked around and I found out some things I shouldn’t have,” he explained.

“What did he say about it?” Hank asked, still pretty calm. Connor shrugged as he looked away.

“He was so mad,” he said. “He shouted at me and told me I had no right, and… he was just so angry. He didn’t want anyone to know.”

Hank, who was until then staring at Connor, glanced at Gavin again.

“Was he adopted or something?” he asked.

“No, no. He’s Elijah’s older brother, he just changed his name when he left his home, after college I think, I’m not quite sure when.”

“Do you know why he doesn’t want anyone to know?” Hank asked, looking at his partner again.

“I don’t think he would want me to talk about it,” Connor said honestly. “I just… there’s a lot of bad blood, but I’m not even sure it’s specifically between him and Elijah. I just know that it made him…”

“Hate androids?” Hank guessed. Connor kind of nodded before he glanced at Hank.

“It made him angry.” All the time.

“Why d’you look so guilty?” Hank finally asked.

“Because I lied to you,” Connor said quietly. Hank frowned again and sighed.

“That’s not a lie, Connor,” he just said as he looked out the windshield.

“What do you mean? I acted as if nothing ever happened with him, as if… I don’t know, but I wasn’t completely honest with you.”

“Yeah but you didn’t do that out of spite or… because you wanted to hide the truth from me,” Hank said. Connor frowned. “You said it yourself, you wanted to tell me, but you weren’t supposed to find out, and he sure as hell doesn’t want anyone else to find out. You did it for him, I get it,” Hank said.

“You get it? Even if it’s… Gavin?” Hank’s gaze drifted back on Connor and he slightly shrugged.

“That’s what makes you a decent person. It doesn’t matter if it had been for me or an asshole like Gavin, you don’t see the difference, you just do what’s right. You just shouldn’t let people use that against you,” he added, knowing that Connor’s kindness could also be dangerous.

“Why didn’t you tell him anything about it?” Connor asked. Hank raised a brow as he looked at Connor. “When he told you.” Hank sighed.

“Sometimes, it’s better not to say anything,” he simply said.

“Are you mad at him?”

“He didn’t choose his family,” Hank said as he kind of waved his hand, saying that it didn’t really matter. “He could choose to act differently, but he doesn’t. He just makes more sense, now, but that’s it for me,” Hank said as he removed his seatbelt and opened his door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok tbh the chapter wasn't supposed to go this way /at all/ haha. I mean, Hank was definitely supposed to find out, but it was supposed to be in the next chapter and in a totally different setting, with different moods, etc. Instead, the first part of the next chapter is what was supposed to happen at the end of this one. ANYWAY. I went with my inspiration, hope you liked it !  
> (also i really hope you liked the bit with chloe)


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